Mr. Naughtypants on Christmas

Dawson played with his favorite present most of Christmas day, which was an alphabet train he could ride on and push around.


However, he still found time to sneak into Zeus's room and eat some of his dog food before we could stop him (yuck!).
And then...I found him putting his hands in the toilet and splashing toilet water all over the place (double yuck!).
Scott gave Dawson a haircut in the afternoon because it was starting to get so long. He ended up taking off a lot more hair than he wanted to and giving Dawson a very short buzzcut. It looks cute but Scott and I both miss the mohawk. You'll notice we had to change Dawson's clothes a few times today...



We had a yummy Christmas dinner with our closest neighbors, the Gales and Schenks, at which time Dawson decided that playing in one toilet today wasn't enough. He managed to sneak into the Gales' bathroom and splash around awhile before we caught him in the act. After we cleaned him up we all played a fun game called "Three Buck Chuck" followed by "Celebrity". We're lucky to have such great friends that live so close to us. Dawson was pretty worn out from all of his naughtiness by then so he fell asleep on my lap and didn't wake up until we left. It was snowing pretty hard when we left so we were glad we only had to walk across the street to get home.

Here are some random Christmas day pics...
Zeus chewing on his new Christmas toy

This is the gingerbread house I made (with a little help from Martha Stewart)

Dawson playing hide-and-go-seek behind our towels...

Christmas Eve with the Parkers

We always celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with Scott's family because his sister Kathy was born on Christmas (poor girl!). We had Scott's parents and his sister and her family come over to our house for dinner and then we all exchanged gifts. We also invited Suzi, Chuck and Ander over since they didn't have any Christmas Eve plans. After we opened our gifts all of the kids wanted to take a ride on Scott's 4-wheeler, which looks like a dune buggy and has two seats in it. Dawson got really upset that he didn't get a turn so we bundled him up and took him out on it. He loves riding through our neighborhood in the four-wheeler while I hold him. He and Ander were wearing the same shirt so we got a few pics of our little "twins".
Grandma & Grandpa Parker

Steve, Kathy, Alicia, her fiance Richard, Katie, Emily, Mikey & Marcus

Dawson draping his new shirts all over himself

Dawson and Ander putting on a show for the rest of us

Everyone there commented on how good Ander was at sitting still while secretly shaking their heads at Mr. Can't Sit Still for 2 Seconds (Dawson)

Ander and Suzi

Our Hoodlum

Scott getting Dawson bundled up

Dawson and me on the four-wheeler

Chuck and Ander returning from their ride

The Aubrey Family Christmas Party

We had our annual Aubrey family Christmas party last Saturday night at my brother Jon and his wife Becky's new house in South Jordan. Their house is brand-spanking new, spacious and absolutely beautiful. We all appreciated Jon and Becky offering to host our party there and providing a scrumptious turkey dinner for all 26 of us as well. We missed having my mom & dad there but we all got a chance to say "Merry Christmas" to them on the phone after we ate dinner. We're so excited that they'll be home in April (right before my birthday!). It was so much fun exchanging gifts with everyone and chatting. I feel so lucky to have such a great family and am so glad we were all able to get together to celebrate Christmas.
I took pics of each of our families so that my mom & dad could see them and feel like they were there with us.

Me, Scott & Dawson


Troy, his girlfriend Nicole, her son Chaden and Troy's son Dylan


Jon, Becky, Jack, Mattee, Stockton, Sammee and Davis


Leslie, Brad and Taylor


Chris, Mari, Andi, Alex, Ariel and Adam


Scott & me (notice the gorgeous kitchen in the background)


Suz, Chuck, Ander and the little fetus

My Son....Amy

Yesterday I asked Dawson what his name was and he gave me quite a surprise when he said "Amy". I've asked him his name about a dozen times since then, hoping the answer would change, and his answer is still "Amy", even when I say, "No, your name is Dawson." It's the funniest thing, because Dawson doesn't even know anyone named Amy (at least that he sees on a regular basis).
Anyway, we'll just keep calling him Dawson in the hope that he'll eventually figure out his real name.

First Horse "Ride"

Dawson has a big stuffed horse that one of Scott's friends gave to him right after he was born. A few days ago he decided he was finally ready to get up on the horse and "ride" him, so that's just what he did. He absolutely loved it.
I think Zeus was a little jealous that Dawson didn't want to ride him but I'm sure we won't have to wait too long until he decides to give that a try too.

The Mohawk

I decided I wanted to see how Dawson looked with a mohawk so I asked Chuck if he would give him one this past weekend. He was kind enough to oblige even though Dawson fought and cried the entire time because he was scared of the noise the clippers made. I think it turned out really cute, even though I wouldn't want him to have this hairstyle when he gets older. Since he's still so young this is probably the only time he'll be able to get away with it without the parents in the neighborhood telling their kids to stay away from "that Parker kid with the crazy hair".

Hangin' With Daddy

Dawson loves to have his daddy hold him when he's sitting in our recliner. After his nap on Sunday, Dawson climbed onto Scott's lap and watched football games with him. While he was sitting there he started saying "dada" over and over again, which is his second favorite word next to "mama", of course.

He also tried to bite Scott's nose and slimed his face with slobber after eating a mini package of M&M's, which didn't faze Scott at all. I love watching the two of them together.

Halloween Fun

Dawson was a ninja for Halloween this year since Scott thinks all of the cute animal costumes for kids are lame. He wanted Dawson to be something "tough" and since I couldn't find a football costume he ended up as a ninja. We took Dawson and Ander trick-or-treating for the first time last night and the boys had a lot of fun together although we had to hold Dawson's hand and lead him from house-to-house, otherwise he would have just kept running down our street. Happy Halloween!

Brothers From Another Mother

Dawson and I were over at Chuck and Suzi's house last night and we were all laughing a lot at the funny things Ander and Dawson were doing. One of them would get up on the couch and then the other would follow him and they would hug and wrestle with each other. Then they would move to the recliner and do the same thing, and then the floor. They were so cute together. Ander chased Dawson and hugged him from behind while Dawson tried to run away from him. Dawson can say Ander's name now but he only says it when he and I are alone together. Ander is very maternal around Dawson sometimes so I know he'll make a good big brother when he gets another sibling. The kids were having so much fun that Dawson didn't want to leave. I'm glad they are getting to be so close and have such a good time together.