Dotson Family

Happy Birthday Maddie and Emma!!

2009-08-02T23:50:00.004-04:00

Look at these sweet girls! You would think they were sisters and not cousins! We had a great time at their birthday party Sat.. My Lexy absolutely adores both of them. That is all she has talked about since we left the party.

Russell and I can't believe they are turning 10yrs old. My how time flies. That just shows our age!

Pool Time

2009-06-10T10:22:00.015-04:00

Last week we went to Mrs. Jenny's house for a relaxing day at the pool. They have the best backyard! When the kids were tired of swimming, they moved on to the huge swing set. There was even good shade for Lilah.

We were surprised when Randy came home for lunch. I'm so upset I didn't get a picture of him holding Lilah for the first time. Watching him with my girls, you wouldn't guess he is a father of 2 boys. We love the King family!

My silly head!

Ellis taking a break.

We were so happy Brittany and Leah joined us for the day! Leah had a new toy and shared it with all the kids. Very sweet girl!

This was absolutely the funniest thing all day. Ellis and Lexy worked really hard at filling the wheelbarrow up with "moech". When it was really close to being full it tumbled over. I thought they were going to be upset but instead they both just cracked up over it. Too funny!

Easton enjoying the water.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-06-09T21:39:00.014-04:00

We had our first trip to Splash Dollywood! It was Sat. and the grand opening for the summer. Although the weather was absolutely perfect, the water was a little cold. I wish I could have gotten in with Lexy. I think she would have done better with Mommy. Thanks to Mary Katherine, she eventually went down the kids slide. Looking forward to more Splash trips this summer with our season passes!

Hanging at the wave pool!

Don't tell Papaw and Mamaw I had my 1wk old at a water park.

Katelynne taking her nap.

Russells first water park at the age of 29!

Adam having a little "ME" time!!

Russell and Lexy being lazy! She rode again in her own tube.

Lilah's Birth

2009-05-31T21:49:00.004-04:00

I know it has taken way too long to get these posted! I have to say, we have been busy. Russell had 2 weeks off with us, and we made the most of it!!

I had a fairly good delivery. The nurse said it might take 20 min. of pushing, but two hours later I was getting worried! Lilah finally came out face up. She had an awfully swollen forehead. As you can see in some of the pictures, I was pretty upset when I first saw Lilah. The doctor was right, though, it went away within a couple of hours. I was just blessed that I didn't end up having a c-section.

Our Lilah is doing great! We are all so much in love with her. What a blessing she has been. Lexy is not jealous of her at all. In fact, she is crazy over her. I can't tell you how many times we tell her, "Be easy with sissy."

Hippity Hop

2009-04-09T16:25:00.003-04:00

Today was one busy day for my little Lexy. I promised her a picture with the Easter Bunny if she was good at my doctor visit, lunch with daddy, picking up my embroidery machine and contacts. Way too many errands in one day! We were the first ones in line when the bunny came back from lunch. As you can see, she was very pleased to be sitting in his lap.

We are looking forward to a fun weekend. We are meeting Vicky on Friday for lunch and an Easter treat. Then, Sat. and Sun. we have two Easter egg hunts with the family. Bring on the candy!

Our First Visitors

2009-03-10T22:55:00.007-04:00

Lexy had a huge surprise today! We had our first visitors from Knoxville. Mary Kathrine, Ellie and Katelynne made the trip first thing this morning. Not sure who was more excited. Unlike most mornings, I had no problem getting out of the bed and getting ready. We took the girls to Imagination Station. It is a really cute park with a little train you can walk on.

These aren't the best pictures. My little jokester thought it was funny to run from the camera today. Hopefully they are good enough that Ava and Olivia will look at them and beg to come and see us. :~) We miss all of you so much. When Lexy says her bed time prayers she prays for all of her Knoxville girlfriends. Very cute! She has even tried convincing me it is ok to name the baby Katelynn. When that didn't work she went for Ana Blair. Watch out Emery.

Missing our Friends

2009-03-05T21:33:00.003-05:00

Look at these sweet girls! This was our last shopping day in Knoxville with the Conway girls. I am pretty sure Wasabi is going to miss our business.

2009-02-24T20:43:00.004-05:00

We had a little photographer at our house on Valentine's Day. If you don't see Lexy in a picture that means she is taking it. Poor girl woke up with an awful cold. Same thing happened last year!

Mamaw was trying to coach Lexy while she is taking pictures!

Lexy has Papaw wrapped around her little finger.

Aunt Wendy and Aunt Sheri always send Lexy good gifts!

Check out the pj's Lexy picked out. The bottoms are 12mo. pants. I have learned to pick my battles!

Loving Mamaw

2009-01-05T12:20:00.004-05:00

My brother just recently sent me some of his pictures from this summer. I fell in love with this picture of my mom and Lexy. My parents keep Lexy one day a week so I can go to work. Pre-pregnancy, I loved my work days. Now, Lexy is the only one who looks forward to them.

New Years Eve

2009-01-04T18:28:00.014-05:00

Happy birthday Christina! Who wouldn't love having their birthday on new years eve? I know I would. I have to say Eric (Christina's husband) really did a great job this year. He managed to pull off a surprise birthday party at the house and keep it a surprise. After feeding everyone bbq and yummy cake we all went outside for a fireworks show. Thanks McKenzie family for a fun night!

Lexi M. has a large collection of dress up clothes. Sweet girl shared with every kid there!

Watching fireworks in the backyard.

2008-12-21T19:32:00.019-05:00

We had the best time last weekend with the Stewart family! We all took off to Pigeon Forge on Friday for a day of shopping. That night we crashed at a cabin in Gattlinburg. The next morning we all managed to get ourselves up and ready for an extremely cold day at Dollywood. I have to brag on all three kids. They were all very well behaved. Ellie and Lexy rode every ride for which they were tall enough. We were looking forward to the parade of lights that started at 7:30pm; however, the three girls were exhausted so we will have to do that another time. Sunday morning was crazy trying to get up, pack, get dressed for church, and check out. We did manage to get to church before the sermon was over!!

After lunch and more shopping, we traveled to Bryson City, NC for the Polar Express train ride. Last year we went during the daytime and were very disappointed. After talking to Rebecca and hearing how great of a time they had at night last year, I decided to try for a night ride. I have no regrets! It was completely different. They turned the lights off in the train and you could really enjoy the Christmas lights throughout the ride. The girls loved it!! As busy as we stayed, we still were not ready to go home Sunday night. Lexy even wanted to go back to the cabin. We have decided to make the Stewart/Dotson Christmas weekend an annual event.

Sorry, my pictures are backwards! This is Santa on the Polar Express train ride. All the kids got a bell.

Lexy's favorite part of the movie is the handing out of hot chocolate. She was singing right along with the song!

We are so thankful daddy works hard for us girls!

This was taken when the train first pulled up. Another thing we didn't get to see last year. Lexy flipped out when she figured out what was coming.

This was Lexy's favorite ride! She is still talking about the "tea cup ride with Adam, Mary Katherine and Ellie. Adam went fast. I liked it."

She is a Santa fan this year!

Prego did get to ride some rides.

Lil' lunch at Dollywood.

Ok, this is my absolute favorite picture of the whole trip! Look at Katelynn's big blue eyes. She is such a trooper.

Only two reindeer on the carousel and Lexy had to ride one.

It's a Girl!

2008-12-10T16:27:00.010-05:00

A few weeks ago, a friend from college offered to scan me and see how the baby was doing. She works at a high risk ob office with the very best equipment in town. She scanned the baby from head to toes. When she turned the 4D image on Lexy went crazy! She was so excited to see a real baby in my belly. When she scanned down to see if it was a girl or boy, it was the most obvious looking girl ever. Jaime and I both started laughing! Poor Russell would have loved a boy. Instead he is blessed with another healthy little girl. Now, Lexy likes to play this joke on people and tell them it is a boy. Crazy girl!

Boo at the Zoo

2008-11-03T12:34:00.006-05:00

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-02T23:20:00.007-05:00

I'm sure you were all wondering if I let my child enjoy the Fall. I have just been a little behind this year. We usually go earlier in the month. Not sure I will plan another trip to the Bahamas in October!! Here are some pictures from our visit to the Oakes Farm. Lexy and Ellie had a blast. They actually took off in to the corn maze alone. Crazy girls were giggling the entire time. Then, we went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch for them to pick out their pumpkin. I think the highlight of the adults day was the fried oreos. They were pretty yummy! Good idea Mary Katherine!

Disney on Ice

2008-11-02T22:00:00.014-05:00

Thank you McKenzie family for inviting us to Disney on Ice in Chattanooga. We had a great time. Lexy always enjoys her visits with the other Lexi! She thinks it is neat there is another Lexi her size. Knoxville moms, I think Disney on Ice is in Knoxville this weekend. You should check it out.

Week At Sea

2008-10-28T15:32:00.022-04:00

A few weeks ago we set sea to the Bahamas with a two year old. She actually did really good! I do believe she enjoys vacationing as much as Russell and I do. She is still talking about the trip to this day!

This was when we first arrived in our stateroom. I am not sure which one of us was more tired!

This was taken inside the ship while we were docked in the Port of Miami.

We visited Atlantis on Paradise Island. This was one of the aquariums there.

Lexy loves Uncle Kenny going on vacation with us. He is a tremendous help!

We are in a taxi in the Bahamas. As my child is sitting in the taxi with no car seat, the driver informs us they have a lot of car wrecks there!

On a boat taking us to Norwegian's private beach for the day.

The water was very clear and the beach was so clean. Lexy loved it!

Lexy lying on a hammock while watching daddy and Uncle Kenny play beach volleyball.

This was the true highlight of Lexy's vacation. This was her getaway from us. We would let her go to the kids korner and play during show times at night, which gave all of us a break. Of course, I am crazy and would spy on her every 15 minutes.

At night when she left the kids korner, we would get a snack to take back to the room. She always had a surprise animal waiting on her.

The last night at the kids korner they colored t-shirts. Her teachers were mashed potatoes and coach. Her favorite was marbles. He was on a break at pick up time. :(

Plane ride home!!

Tattoo

2008-10-15T18:20:00.008-04:00

Let me just start this off by saying, I don't usually allow my child to have a pen on her own! We were over at our friend's house playing cards one night, and they have a little girl Lexy's age. It is so nice because the girls go upstairs to their playroom and play for hours. Of course, we always sneak up and check on them. Most of the time they are in separate corners doing their own thing. Super cute! Anyway, Lexy found a pen and pad that she brought down and showed us. I thought no biggie she is writing on the paper like a good girl. Next thing I know, she comes back to us with both arms out. Wow! We were surprised what our little angel had done. My first thought was what else did she write on. Luckily the couch and other little girl were ink free. Then Russell picked her up and went straight for the bathroom. Needless to say, the trip wasn't to wash the ink off of her arms!! After the anger and embarrassment wore off and we got home, something hit me. Now, if any of you watch Prison Break on TV, you will know the hot Michael Scofield has the same tattoo my daughter now has. OK, maybe not the exact same one but pretty close. It at least made me wonder if that is where the idea came from, and made it worth taking pictures! FYI, Johnson's baby soap took it right off. The next day I went to her bathroom and noticed the whole tub had ink all in it. Gotta love em!

The Swing Ride

2008-09-08T17:36:00.003-04:00

Friday night Russell and I took Lexy to the park. Now that Fall is getting close, it has been cooler at night. She was in a swing that I think is for special needs children. (That is another story in it's self) Anyway, it is this big blue chair you can sit back and relax. I'm sure all you moms have seen em. Russsell gave her one BIG push and off she went. First thing she said is, "it's freezing up here". We both just smiled and said are you cold. And she said, "it's cold up here in the clouds." Pretty cool. She really thought she was so high up she was in the clouds. It is something new everyday with her. I absolutely love it! Big Mud Puddles & Sunny Yellow Dandelions!!!!!

Check it out...
http://members.shaw.ca/mcinnes-hume/mud_puddles__dandelions.htm

2008-09-06T18:11:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures we had taken a couple of weeks ago. I am disappointed I let a year go by without professional pictures. Lexy did really good considering we waited an hour and a half past our appointment time. Beware of Olan Mills at Belk's on a Saturday!

2008-08-26T01:06:00.000-04:00

Here is Lexy's first pet. Lexy and I stood in Wal-mart begging Russell for these 3 goldfish. As you can see, we got to bring them home. She really enjoyed feeding them. I have to admit Russell was right! The fish bowl stayed dirty and smelly.

2008-08-26T00:40:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, Barney has always been one of Lexy's favorite things to watch. Almost 3years later she still loves him. Unfortunately he came to Knox. Zoo the weekend I had to work. Being the sweet daddy Russell is, he took her to see the show 2times. She had to stick around and watch again with Ellie. She talked about it for weeks. She didn't understand why Barney didn't hold her!!

2008-08-15T18:39:00.000-04:00

Lexy is in love with Dollywood! She rode every ride she was allowed on. Going in to the day, I figured we would spend the morning there and head home around nap time. Instead, these girls shut the park down. At one point Russell and I sneaked away for some alone time. When we meet back up with dad and mom, Lexy was passed out in dad's lap. She is a Papaw's baby. Later that night we let the girls play with some sparklers. This was Cailey's first time with a sparkler in her hand!

2008-08-15T18:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks for visiting us Stone family! Lexy and Blake were so cute together. This was taken when they first got to the house. They were both playing hard to get. By the end of the day Lexy didn't want him to leave.

2008-08-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

We had a great Father's Day this year. We had several family members come in from Pennsylvania to Texas. We loved the company. Growing up we traveled with dad's job and never lived close to relatives. So, having them in town is always a huge blessing. Thanks to Uncle Kenny, we had a lot of toys to play on. He worked really hard at setting up a 50ft long slip and slide and a huge water slide! We didn't even find time to crank up the pop-corn and snow cone machine. Our day went by way too fast.

This is Lexy with her great, great Aunt Katherine.

Poor little Allie was not impressed with the water toys!

2008-08-10T21:29:00.001-04:00

As always, we have had a fun summer at the pool. These are some of Lexy's best buds! Ellie, in the front, is a neighbor and church friend. In the middle is Ava. She is a friend we meet at the Little Gym. Both families have made a special place in our hearts. As my friend Becky says, "Chattanooga is not that far away"!!!!

Does anyone know who's boat this is?

Lexy hasn't had fun at the pool if she hasn't had a snack. The second we get there she wants food.

Lexy and Ellie have seen each other almost everyday this summer. Sweet girls! They think they are related.