Crawling!!

Dakoda started crawling today!! He has been scooting around on his bottom and inch-worm crawling for a few months now, but we weren't sure he would ever crawl on all fours. But today he did! We are so excited! I'll try to post a video later.

Surprise!

Last night Darren and Pap were in the living room with Dakoda while I talked to Grammie (my mom) on the phone. I heard them getting all excited and clapping, and Darren told me that Dakoda had sat himself up for the first time! Well, of course, he wouldn't do it again for me.

So this morning when I went in to get him, he was sitting up in his crib! I was so surprised!! My little baby really is growing up! He did it again after his morning nap, but he still won't do it when I'm in the room, the little stinker!

Busy Week

Wow! It's been over a week since I posted. We have been very busy lately. Aunt Kristy (Darren's sister) came in from NYC for a visit April 11-13. We had lots of fun spending time with her and her friend, Cynthia.

Last Wednesday, Dakoda and I went to Knoxville to meet some members of a Hip Mama's group, which is a group of Moms in the Knoxville area that get together with their kiddos a couple of times a week for playdates and such. It was a lot of fun and we met a lot of really nice Mommies and babies (and older kids, too!). After the meetup, Dakoda and I went to West Town Mall and I found a lot of great deals at The Children's Place and babyGap! YAY!

Darren was off work on Friday, so we went shopping in Knoxville again. First we went to Babies R Us (one of my favorite places!) and got a baby shower gift for our good friends, Dustin and Julie. Then we went to the mall again and got some Robeez for Dakoda and some basketball shorts for Darren. Later, we went to Zach and Landon's baseball game. We finally got home around 8 pm. What a long day!

Saturday was the Orange & White game at UT. It was Dakoda's first experience with UT football, and he loved it! He got so excited whenever the band would play and would clap his hands and kick his little feet! It was so cute! We left early because it was really windy and chilly, but we had a lot of fun!

Yesterday Darren had Men's League Basketball all afternoon, and Dakoda and I traveled to Cookeville for a Delta Gamma alumni meeting. It was so great to see my sisters again, and introduce Dakoda to them! We can't wait to get together with them again!

Here are some pictures from our busy week.

Dakoda playing with Daddy's boots while Mommy gets ready.















At the baseball game



















Orange & White Game

Beautiful Day!

It has been a beautiful couple of days here in East TN! Sunny and warm, but not too warm, with a gentle breeze. Gorgeous! Dakoda and I walked up the hill to visit Mam and Pap both yesterday and today. We took Emma and Neyland with us and they had a ball running around the yard and enjoying the outdoors! This afternoon the ground wasn't as damp, so I let Dakoda play in the grass for a little bit. He was so funny trying to figure out what in the world that stuff was! Here are a couple of pictures.

Dakoda wondering what that green stuff is!

























Handsome boy!

Changing every day

Dakoda is learning something new every day. Yesterday he started giving high fives. It is the cutest thing! He has also started shaking his head "no" when he's done eating, reaching for wherever he wants to be (Jumperoo, floor, couch, etc), and stepping when we help him walk by holding his hands. He still isn't crawling yet, although he has no problem getting where he wants to go. He inch-warm crawls to go forward, and scoots backwards. He also scoots on his bottom. Yesterday morning he was sitting in the living room floor playing with his toys, facing the kitchen. When I walked in the room from my bedroom, he was turned completely around, slam-dunking a water bottle into his basketball goal! Our little man is growing up so fast! It's hard to believe it's less than 2 months until his 1st birthday!

Lazy Saturday

Today we have had a very lazy day. Something about yucky gray weather makes everyone just want to lay around and do nothing. So that is what we have done! We slept in this morning (till 9 am!), had a leisurely breakfast, and then I played with Dakoda while Darren took care of some of his basketball league business. Then he and Dakoda had some "guy time" while I designed Dakoda's birthday party invitations.

The finished product:

















I'm really excited with how they turned out!! Darren thinks I'm silly for spending so much time on an invitation when I could just use the ones you can buy at the store, especially since we're not having a big party. But it's my baby's first birthday! It only comes around once, right? :)

Our Afternoon at the Park

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that I decided to take Dakoda to the park. It was his first visit so I was very excited to take lots of cute pictures! Then silly me forgot the camera at home. :( When we got there we found that some friends of ours were already there - yay! Dakoda and Lexie had lots of fun swinging together after Dakoda got over his initial apprehension of the swing. Then we walked over and watched the older kids play in the creek for a little while. Dakoda wanted to go in very badly - I could see it in his eyes. ;) After that, we walked around the park a couple of times before heading home. It was a good thing we left when we did because right as we pulled into the driveway, it started raining! All in all, it was a very fun afternoon and we will definitely be going again soon. And maybe next time I won't forget the camera!