Memorial Day Weekend

What a fun weekend! We enjoyed some beautiful Indiana weather with family and friends - it was a very busy, typical holiday weekend in our house! We started off with a fun party to celebrate the end of the school year (almost!) with Adam's co-workers, but unfortunately we didn't take any pictures. Brendan was the hit of the party, of course!

Saturday we celebrated with Tiffany's cousin Matt as he graduated from high school. Again, no pictures...we were so busy chasing Brendan and trying to keep him out of the pool that we didn't get the camera out. He was pretty worn out by the time we headed back home on Saturday, and here is proof from the back seat...

On Sunday, Adam enjoyed his annual guys' day at the Indianapolis 500. This year they didn't get to park in "Turn 3" like they had planned (even though they got in line at 5:20 AM!), but lucked into some really great seats to watch the race from the stands! Tiffany and Brendan hung out with Stephanie and Kaylee, and Trisha and Elias. Here are a few pictures from our afternoon...

Elias didn't seem to mind giving Brendan piggy-back rides

Kaylee enjoyed the Bumbo seat a little...but it was only while Brendan wasn't looking!

Note the new Crocs...we found a Crocs outlet store in Edinburgh! Brendan just had to have the red Mickey Crocs...or maybe mommy did, I'm not sure. :)

It's very fun to watch Brendan and Elias interact together. They are only a few months apart, so they make great little buddies!

On Monday, we loaded the family minivan again and headed for Muncie to wish Nana a happy birthday! It was very last minute that we all got to go up together - Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Dawson were even there! Brendan and Katie enjoyed exploring outdoors, and Brendan brought his tractors up to share. It's only the beginning of many years of conspiring between these two...

Uncle Jeremy's tricycle is a little big this summer...maybe next year!

Hmmm...I don't think you're supposed to be playing with that...Brendan!

We hope everyone had a wonderful, safe Holiday weekend! We want to encourage everyone to offer a special prayer for our troops overseas this Memorial Day holiday.

We have also been praying for the family of Steven Curtis Chapman in their tragic accident last week. The loss of thier daughter Maria has weighed heavy on our hearts...I have been touched by the updates and stories on their family blog in the last week: http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/. The video is absolutely precious, but be prepared to wipe away some tears!

Outdoor Fun!

We've enjoyed a couple of nice days this week, and Brendan really enjoys playing outside! Daddy had a great week with several of his Fishers track runners advancing from Sectionals to Regionals next week, and Mommy loves being able to play at home with Brendan 2 days a week. Working part-time has been a wonderful blessing to our family. This week, the highlight was our weekly "treasure hunt" (aka Friday morning Garage Sale shopping) - this week Kaylee and Steph came with us!

Brendan loves his new backyard playground - this was a treasure we found last week, but we haven't had very many nice days since then to get outside and enjoy it. We look forward to spending lots of time climbing and sliding this summer! By the way, Uncle Tyler, make sure you save a storage unit for us this winter...we're going to need it! Actually, Brendan is the one that is going to need it.



Thank you, to my boys, for a wonderful Mother's day! Brendan enjoyed a fun afternoon with Nana and Papa, Uncle Jeremy, cousin Katie, Aunt Linds and Rob. Katie and Brendan loved playing with the bubbles! It is an amazing opportunity to be "mom" to such a fun little guy, and Adam is great at showing his appreciation.

Have a great weekend!!

Time to Catch up...

Okay...so I know there are a few of you that read this, and I promised an update this week! We're still here, doing well. Brendan is just as cute as ever, and he's learning new things every day. Here is a run down of his latest feats:
-He sleeps through the night, nearly 12 hours! (For those wondering, he has only been doing this consistently for about 4 weeks)
-He loves climbing the stairs and we no longer have to use the gates - he insists on walking down the stairs like a big boy holding the wall or hand rail
-He is drinking milk and eating dairy - no more Soy milk!
-He has started holding our hands to lead us somewhere - usually he wants to go outside
-He is cutting his upper molars
-He is napping great now - at least 2 hours in the afternoon, but often up to 4 hours
-He is starting to use some words! Just since Sunday he has been repeating words - yesterday it was bubble, book, duck. Today it was car, bird, go, out. Okay, so maybe we are the only ones that understand what he's saying, but we love hearing him make an effort to say words. Oh yeah - he knows his name, too - in his language, it's "Neh Nen".

And now for the pictures!! I'm sure that is all anyone wants to see anyhow, right?

Oh yeah, I thought of one more thing, and unfortunately I don't have a picture for this. Brendan loves to play at the playground, and loves going down slides. This afternoon we were playing at Kennedy Applegate's house, and while Molly and I were talking Brendan RAN down Kennedy's slide. He had previously sat down and went down the slide on his bottom, but this time he decided to stand at the top and run all the way down. He fell when he got to the small drop-off at the bottom of the slide, and laughed - of course!! I'm just glad he's okay!!

Last weekend Daddy ran in the Indianapolis Mini Marathon...congratulations, Daddy! He accomplished his goal of under 2 hours - he finished in 1 hour, 54 minutes. Mommy ran really hard in the 5K (3.1 miles), and next year might try the Mini again. (By the way - thank you, Aunt Janet, for watching Brendan while we ran!)


"Uncle" Chris and Brian Dawson stayed with us on Friday night to run in the Mini, too. Chris stopped in Indianapolis while on his way to New Hampshire from Houston, TX. He was towing his motorcycle behind a U Haul - congrats, Chris, on your promotion and we hope you enjoy your new position in New Hampshire! Chris' girlfriend, Rebecca, flew up to Indiana from Houston to visit Chris and meet his family, and she ran in the 5k also. (Brian and Sherry's kids are in the picture with Chris - Vince is on the motorcycle, Blake is walking behind it)


We had a cookout after the Mini on Saturday, and Rob, Lindsay, and Katie joined us for lunch. Vince, Brendan and Katie enjoyed playing in the hammock.


Here is another picture I thought I would throw in... While we don't watch much television in our home, Brendan has grown to enjoy a few morning shows on the Disney channel. I thought this was really cute this morning - I think he watched the entire 20 minute episode of Tigger and Pooh sitting here on the floor.


This one is from Gracie's visit a couple of weeks ago. Aunt Debbie and Jenn came up from Ocala to visit our family in Springfield, and while they were here we made a trip to Meijer. This was Brendan's first time riding the penny horse!



That's it for now...I have a few more pictures from the last 3 weeks that I can post later this week.