Wow- I haven't seen you in 10 years!

My 10 year class reunion was this last weekend. The showing- awesome!! The venue- beautiful!! The wine- so tasty! The conversation- so rejuvenating and fun! I had such a blast! There are movies, books, blogs, and lots of anxiety by many over class reunions- this was a first for me, and it was so much fun and totally worth it! Though the Dawsons were one of, oh, 6 families to go to "Family Day" at the COUNTRY CLUB (if you skipped out on it- you MISSED IT!), but it was a fantastic weekend all around, as evidenced by the complete exhaustion that Sunday brought. Totally worth it, and I must say: I am not at all the person I thought I would be after 10 years, but I am undeniably grateful that God's plans were different than my own.





These were taken from the roaming photographers - the fantastic Mr. and Mrs. Courville! Thanks!

Training recap... and a few thoughts on reality

Just for the record, I have a bachelors in early childhood education and development as well as a masters in Child Development. What was my thesis? Attachment- a theory which states that in practice a baby is to be picked up during the first 6 months when he/she cries no questions asked. Reality? see the previous post... I have more than one child... and we pray there will be more than these two. I hope my major professor sees this and laughs... or cries... sorry Dr. Pierce.

Day one:
1st nap- 30 minutes of going in and out until she fell asleep
2nd nap- 15 minutes!
3rd nap- didn't work and we took her out of bed to nurse and love on her until we went to mass

Day two:
1st nap- Rocked to sleep by Grandpa (pronounced "Gwuppaw" by John Paul)
2nd nap- not even 10 minutes
3rd nap- don't remember

Day three:
1st nap- not 10 minutes
2nd nap- 20ish minutes and slept 2 1/2 hours!!
3rd nap- no go (I picked her up and nursed her. I would rather a tired and fussy baby than a non-sleepy baby who might possibly feel abandoned in any way)

Day four:
1st nap and 2nd naps- didn't take long but she slept less than 1 1/2 hours
3rd nap- currently going on- it's felt like an eternity that I listed to her cry. Even after 5 minutes of silence from the monitor, I heard her again and sounding so sad. Silence now in the monitor for 15 minutes. We'll see how long she sleeps.


And as for John Paul? His sleeping has not been altered by the sound of sister in the room next door. (She's been in our room since birth. These naps have been in her big room/bed.)

Reunions and Sleep Training- not much experience in either!

We stayed with our dear friends Mike and Julie and their Gorgeous daughter Emily!




We are busy being reunited with many things and people!

David's 10 year high school reunion was this past weekend, his family reunion was as well. My high school reunion is this coming weekend, and we have begun the dreaded sleep training that turned John Paul into the awesome sleeper that he is.

We had a BLAST seeing and re-seeing his high school friends and his family- both were full of people and food! So so much fun. My class was twice as large as his, so this weekend should be crazy fun!

Sleep training experience? Well, I started too early(in my opinion) with John Paul, and it took weeks and weeks. With Therese, we have experienced a natural progression from the swing for naps to her cradle in our room, and now she is taking too long to get down for naps with bouncing, rocking, etc to John Paul's detriment most of the time. It's time, and David and I know that our dear Saint Therese will be with our sweet Therese as she learns to find her bed safe and comfortable.

A video! Finally

John Paul shows off his knowledge of Therese's face.

Well, what dya know?

One thing we didn't try until last night...

The lactation consultant (whose name is also Therese) mentioned that by this age, Therese (our Therese) is receiving enough calories during the day and is possibly just waking up expecting to eat, but not needing to. Did we not see this at three in the morning when she didn't actually FUSS when my she wasn't getting her normal nighttime snack? Who understands anything at 3 in the morning. So apparently my body doesn't need my brain and has decided to cut her off from this feeding without my permission. The audacity.

Last night when she woke up at 3 and I again tried to nurse and it didn't work, I gave her to David so I could stumble into the kitchen and muster up the strength (mentally, physically, and emotionally) to fix her a bottle, thinking that this was going to become the nightly norm for a while. When I returned to the room, she was sleeping next to her daddy. SERIOUSLY! And just how long did she sleep? Until 6... that's right. No food, just mommy and Daddy! Is that not precious and awesome? She even fell right back to sleep after that until 7:30. I feel like a new woman! Praise God!


Isn't that a face that says, "I don't need it, I just want it... hehehe"

I need some advice...

At night my milk WILL NOT come in. I have tried what feels like everything. I take fenugreek now (a spice that increases milk supply), I bump up the calories and liquid at night, I drink throughout the entire day, drink a big glass of water before bed, and drink 2 to 3 glasses of water when I hear her waking. I have tried pumping while David holds her off. No let down.

Nothing Nothing Nothing. We have had to resort to bottles each of these instances (I'm no against bottle feeding or anything, but I've never had to do this for night feeding or multiple feedings). At the last feeding of the day- plenty of milk. At the first of the morning- plenty of milk.

It is heart-breaking to wake up each feeding and continue to try try try. We are both so frustrated. So I feel like I'm mourning a death or something, crying here and there all day long- I can't provide for my child. No I'm not pregnant. It's strange that she wakes up more often when she drinks formula, but if my milk happens to come in (which has only been like twice in the last week), then she only wakes up once in a 12 hour period. If formula, then 3 times.

I feel like I've tried everything. Any advice?

Thoughts on Motherhood: Life-giving love

Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty wrote:

"The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral- a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body...

The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God's creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation."

I am reading a book right now called Life Giving Love by Kimberly Hahn, and y'all, it is rocking my world! She is a mother of 6 and married to Scott- a professor, speaker, writer, etc. Here is a snippet of some of the encouragement and joy that I get to read:



"We must treasure the time we have right now with little ones underfoot. These truly are the good old days we will remember in the future! This time of intensive care for the children will go faster than we think; ask any older person. The we will watch them go out the door in search of adult adventures..."

or this:

Some of us have wrestled with the question of openness to life and are in the midst of find a creative way to say no to our Heavenly Father... How can we know? First we must pray for wisdom, for "if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given to him." (Jas 1:5) Second, we must examine our motivationL Is it faith or fear? If it faith, then simply pray the words, "increase my faith." (Luke 17:5) And He will."

Thanks, Nicole Trahan, for the gift of this book and your friendship. They is changing my life.

Happy Birthday, David!

David is 28 today!








To a husband whose life truly exemplifies the Sacred Heart of Christ (Whose feast we celebrate today). The love, the sacrifice, and the passion that HIS heart freely pours out is seen so clearly in you, David. You give totally of yourself without holding back to us- your family, and to the youth- your second calling. God has chosen such a precious vessel through which He reveals Himself. What an honor it is to be in your life. What a humbling gift it is to be your wife and the mother of your children. Happy Birthday!



I also want to thank Mom and Dad (David and Lisa Dawson) for loving David into existence! What a gift we all receive because of your saying yes!

Stolen Pic-chas

My sister and her family recently visited us. I have taken it upon myself to upload a few that I thought were priceless. Sarah's blog has a ton of pictures, but here are just a few more!

My sister, my brother Joseph and I enjoying Madeline's birthday cake.



Sarah was able to meet Therese for the first time on this trip. Madeline refers to her as "my baby"

John Paul? Though it looks JUST like John Paul, this is Madeline in her Dora costume! Isn't that nuts!


Our precious Therese napping in her sling (not the recalled one). That girl loves her sleep! PRAISE GOD!


Such a boy!




And while we're on the topic of stolen pictures, these were taken by the photographer at my sister-in-law's wedding back in September. I know it has nothing to do with Sarah and their trip, but I love them, and I'm quite sure that you haven't seen them before. These are my in-laws. You can just imagine how easily I fit in!

Yes, David is hanging John Paul upside down behind him in one of them.

A Kate recipe - chocolate pecan pie!

Those of you who know me... you'll probably say, "typical Kate"

The recipe was found online and went something like this:

1 pie shell
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. pecan halves
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pour pecans and chocolate chips into pie shell


Whisk together the rest of the ingredients together and pour them over the pecans and chocolate in the pie shell.




Wonder what went wrong when the pie turns out like this: super chewy and not leavened (hmmm)


Find a super creative husband with strong biceps and pectorals to scoop out the total failure of what was to be HIS birthday treat and blend it in a food processor.


Add the 3/4 eaten homemade vanilla ice cream from the freezer into the now-processed, chocolaty pecan failure.

Enjoy the greatest mistake I've ever made (and my husband fixed... again)

And yes... I did figure out that I forgot to add the eggs. Typical.

A 2 week weekend!

It began on May 21st when my sister (Sarah Green of greensliving.blogspot.com) and her precious family came to visit for the week. We had family time in the morning (because David's job schedule has him home in the morning) and we ALL played together EVERY afternoon. It was a tiring and fantastic, Heaven-like adventure every day! Never mind that both my children were sick with one or all of the following: cough, runny nose, ear infection, teething emotional personality, exhaustion.

We then headed to Baton Rouge to spend Memorial Day weekend with David's family- including all his siblings!!! The trip was extended when David's dad found a listing in the paper for a VAN... that's right. Our search for our Van is over. It's a Honda, and I am in love! It was a great experience (minus finding out that most car salesmen have microphones in their offices to listen to you when they "step out" for a minute to talk to their manager.)

Here are ALL the pictures, and that's why it's in slide show form... though the batteries in the camera died soon after arriving to Baton Rouge. Peace.