Our First Family Camping Trip!

This August we were super excited to take Halen on his very FIRST camping trip!

 Madi couldn't wait to get out there and show Halen how it's done!

    

Here she is about 5 minutes after arrival :

It's amazing to me how fast she can go from a little No-I-don't-want-to-get-dirty-Princess to this dust ball! But she loves it, so I do my best to not follow her around with a wipe trying to clean her up every five minutes! 

The kids were VERY excited that this year we got to camp along with Grandpa & Allison, Aunt Ashley, Uncle Jon & Aunt Dawn AND the girls, Payton & Isabella!! It was great to have all our families there to hang out & relax with. We spent a lot of time chatting by the fire, roasted some marshmallows, did some stargazing, took walks down by the river, and even had the chance to raft down the river a few times as well! The only down side we had was the fact that Halen was not too impressed with the great outdoors! I think Madi would camp all year round if we let her ( She just LOVES it!!), Halen on the other hand... was NOT a happy camper!! During the day he would do ok. He would act pretty much like his usual happy self but once night time came it was like he was a completely different baby!! He had the hardest time falling asleep and was just cranky as can be! This made it a bit tough on us... we ended up deciding to head on home a night early. We were ALL very happy to be back in our normal beds & back to our regular routines. (Madi's first stop  after getting home... the BATHTUB!! Wow!! was she a dirty bird!) We are hoping that by next year Halen will be a better sleeper & be up for another outdoor adventure!! 

Brendan chillin' at the campsite

Madi & Mommy 

Halen & Daddy our first morning there 

( Halen sure looks like a happy guy doesn't he?)

Mr Blue Eyes

Grandpa working hard at the grill, making breakfast for us all, YUM! 

Day 2.... Madi ran thru the parking lot a little too fast & tripped... landing on her cheek, poor girl! 

(Some "Hot Chocolate Milk" from Grandpa helped make it feel better in no time though! Not to mention, right after it happened, her buddy Avalee, who we were visiting w/at their camp at the time, shared some yummy fishy crackers to help make it better too! What a good friend!)

Madi & Daddy goofing around

HALEN!

Daddy & Halen

Going for a walk 

Relaxing in his stroller, ready to take a walk

Payton!

As soon as Madi saw Isabella at the campsite she HAD to have her sit WITH her... they are such good buddies!

Morning time at the campsite again! Halen & Mommy!

We gave him his own toys to play with ... but he thought Mommy's water bottle was tons more fun!! It was pretty hot outside so I think he liked that the bottle was super cold! 

The whole group hanging out by the river, going for a nice cool swim! (I think it was about 93 that day! Way too hot for me!!!)  

Overall we had a FABULOUS vacation & can't wait for our next adventure!

Halen is SIX months old!!

I find myself yet again wondering how time flies by so quickly, it seems like just yesterday we were on our way to the hospital to welcome Halen into the world....but here we are...he's 6 months old already! Amazing!

We took him in for his 6mth check up on 7/5/2011 ... he is now...
26in (34.17%) & 16 lb 6 oz (29.49%)!!
He is still our happy little guy! From the second he wakes up in the morning he is smiling! He has also now added 'talking' to the list as well.... well... maybe more like happy screeching sounds...and boy oh boy is he LOUD! I guess since he's found his voice he is just trying to make sure everyone hears him loud and clear! He has two teeth now as well! (Bottom front) They started to poke through right around the time he turned 4mths old, one right after the other... looks like all that drooling paid off for him!
(He's still drooling like crazy so I'm sure we'll be seeing more teeth poke thru any day now!)
Halen is now working on sitting up on his own (He's SO close!! He can hold himself up for a while but is still working on catching himself when he starts to tip) Crawling shouldn't be too far away either! (He's kinda got an inchworm technique going right now... soon he'll be up off his belly crawling everywhere & getting into lots of trouble with his big sister I'm sure!)

Birthday Parties, Playdates, New tricks & More!...

May has been a pretty busy month for the Dillon clan...

We started off the month celebrating Paige's 8th birthday
Here's the Birthday Girl showing off the handmade paper flower she made herself
(Madi is SO obsessed w/her cousin Paige!)

Then since the sun had decided to show up once again we made a few trips to the park to soak up some vitamin D and breathe in some fresh air!

Madi going for a ride w/ Daddy at the Riverfront park, she LOVES her pink car!

Madi was so excited it was nice enough out to go play on the SLIDE!

Getting some pointers from her buddy Avalee.

Happy little Halen hanging out while the girls play.

Madi also has had some recent encounters with her favorite neighborhood animals....

"Cow Kitty!"

Giving Tubby a pat on the back

Halen was a pretty busy guy and learned to ROLL OVER! He's also quite the ladies man these days....

Of course we had to post Halen's new accomplishment for all to see when they came to visit!

This is a typical day in the life of Halen... Madi & Isa fighting over who gets to play with him!

He has also found something new to play with.... his feet!
(This has made changing his diaper & getting him dressed a bit challenging! Combine the foot constantly in his mouth with the rolling over & it's like wrestling a bear!)

Next we helped Isabella celebrate her 4th birthday...

(How is it possible that she is 4 already!?)


Halen was pretty excited to get to try solids for the first time...ok maybe excited isn't the word for it... He wasn't too sure what to think of it at first...

Turns out, he really wasn't too impressed with it....

...at all...
(*update: He has improved his opinion on this solid food stuff... at first it was just weird to him...but w/ each meal he's become happier & happier to see that spoon coming towards him! He even *thinks* that he's ready to go ahead & just use the spoon himself! haha!)


Here our little rocker is with the super awesome blanket his Grandma Pat made him

Miss Madi-Annie was extremely proud of herself... she learned how to draw hearts! Here she is showing them off

Looking forward to a very busy, busy summer filled with more park playdates, visits from family , lots of sunshine & playing in the swimming pool! Not to mention lots of GROWING for Mr Halen

Halen is FOUR months old!

May 5th, 2011 We took Halen in to see the doctor for his four month check up!
He is now 23.88 inches tall (13.9%) & is 14lbs 12.5oz! (48.5%)
And is healthy as can be!
I think when he woke up that morning he must have known he would be going to see the doctor... because he decided it would be the day he would start to
ROLL OVER!
Guess he wanted me to have a little extra something to brag to the Doctor about! He had to have some shots this time around & boy is he not a fan! He turned a couple new shades of red then purple for about 30 seconds.. while screaming.... then took a deep breath...looked at me and flashed the super cute "Halen Smile".... then took a long nap.... boy I love this kid!!

Halen & Madi's photo session!

It's official.... we have completed Madi & Halen's FIRST ever Sibling Photo Shoot!
As usual, Brendan has done a fabulous job capturing the super cute-ness of our children.... take a look:

Madi's Favorite things...part 3....

Madi is back for another addition of her "Favorite Things"!
She has been a pretty busy little lady these days... lucky for us she has stopped by to share some of her current favorite things..... take a look! :

The neighborhood kitty that comes to visit.

Wearing the top of her cupcake container

Her Baby Doll (Named... what else?... Baby Doll... of course!)

Her barbie fairy wings!

Minnie Mouse!

Giving Baby Halen kisses

Dress up shoes & jewelry!

Daddy & Baby "Talen" (we're working on getting the 'T' into a 'H'..)

Her Princess Crown

Popcorn!

Her new Ladybug rain boots!

Playing with Halen on his playmat

That's all she has for us for today...
Check back often for another installment of "Madi's Favorite Things!"

Growing! Growing! Growing!!!

I continue to be utterly amazed at how fast children grow... I think I blinked once and suddenly Madisen went from a newborn to this super cute, extremely smart little 2 yr old girl! The same is happening with Mr Halen... he is growing so fast... he just turned 3 mths old & is already outgrowing his 3mth size clothes (A feat that took Madi until she was 6mth or so to do!) He's very busy these days attempting to roll over (Seriously Kid?! Someone should have told you, you don't have to learn to do EVERYTHING before you are 6mths old! haha!) I believe he is also doing some teething already as well!! (Drooling, chewing on his hands, drooling, chewing on anything you put near his mouth, drooling... have I mentioned he's been drooling a lot?) So we are keeping an eye out for any little teeth that may be breaking their way through anytime soon. He continues to be a pretty mellow kid, he sleeps well at night (yay!) And loves playing on his playmat & napping in his swing (thank goodness for the invention of baby swings!)

Hanging out with Daddy