Christmas

This Christmas was the best Christmas we have had in a few years! Dylan is at such a great age, and had so much fun opening his presents. He was thankful for all of his gifts, and as he opened each one, he wouls say "WOW!" We had our friends the Cash's over for brunch, and Dylan and Ethan ran around in thier PJs pulling each other around in Dylan's new sled, that they both call a boat. After eating lots of yummy food, we played our new Office trivia game with Dan and Amanda. It was really fun once we figured out how to play it. Here's a few pics from the day:

News

Well, some of you may noticed that it had been a little while since I have written a blog. I'm not real great at keeping up with it anyway, but it really has been a while. I also promised pics of my finished kitchen, unfortunately, it's not finished yet! But, I have a great excuse- I am pregnant!! My midwife says I am due sometime between June 28th and July 13th. So for now, I am going with July 7th. We'll see how close I am once I have an ultrasound sometime in Feb :)

So far this pregnancy is very similar to Dylan's. I am nauseous (and tired) most of the time, and it gets worse at night. I also already have terrible back pain, just like with Dylan. I am really absent minded too- I think "pregnancy brain" hit earlier this time! It's amazing how much more challenging it is to be pregnant with a toddler running around! He just doesn't understand why I'm too tired to play as much as we used to. 

One plus with this pregnancy is that I'm not working full time. I don't know how I could possibly be working 40 hrs plus take care of the house and Dylan. Jason still has to pick up a lot more of the household chores anyways!! I can't wait to be out of this beginning stage, I must admit I forgot how horrible it is. We have an appointment in a few weeks where we will get to hear the heartbeat for the first time. I can't wait!!! 

I'm not sure how coherent this blog has been, but I'm pregnant, so you can't expect much from me- haha

Always one step ahead of me!

Just as I was thinking to myself "wow, Dylan is playing so well by himself. I am getting so much done," I turn around and see this:

and this:

Oh well, the crayon is washable so it came easily off the couch and Dylan's face! And yes, he is wearing his winter caot and hat. He insisted on putting all his winter clothes back on this morning- including his snow boots! So cute :)

Snow Day!!

It snowed over a foot last night!! It is amazing. It's not even November yet, and we had a huge storm. Luckily, it seems like this was just a fluke storm, not the beginning of winter already. By Halloween, it is supposed to be in the mid 50's, and so far the weather forcast for next week looks good. We were not happy to be shoveling snow at 4:30 this morning so I could be to work at 5:15, but I have to admit I really loved the beauty of it, and had a great time building a snowman with Dylan this afternoon. He really got into it, and we played outside for about an hour. 

Dylan putting the head BACK onto the snowman...

Our house at 5AM!

 

Cheese!

The view from our back window

Notice the FALL leaves under that snow!

Busy, Busy....

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted anything new. In the past few weeks I have been painting my kitchen, preparing for Dylan's second birthday, and getting ready to go out of town to visit Jason's parents and go see Coldplay!! I'm not quite sure why I thought tearing apart my kitchen 2 weeks before Dylan's birthday party was a good idea..... My goal was to have it finished before the party- because 2 and 3 yr. olds really care about the condition of our kitchen! I had to give up that dream, but it is close. For those of you who haven't heard about our crazy kitchen, I will just post a picture, words just can't describe it. I did the walls and the cabinets, so all the cabinet doors had to come off, and everything had to be primed and then painted. There are still some cabinet doors to finish, so once it is all completed, and the kitchen is put back together, I will post an "after" picture. As for Dylan's party, it was a lot of work, but so much fun. I think next year we will not have a party for him, maybe not again until he turns 5 and I know he will remember it! The kids were crazy- especially when it came time to open presents. We tried to have them all sit back and let Dylan open the gifts one by one, but that was not going to happen! We eventually gave up, and he got lots of help opening gifts from his friends. We left for Ohio Sunday night, and we are now enjoying a few days away from the busy-ness of our lives.  We had another b-day celebration with Grammie and Papa last night, and we are going to go see Coldplay tonight!! Yippee!!!!

Our kitchen "before"

(that's not wallpaper on the walls... it's paneling! Someone spent some money to get them to look like that)

Dylan's b-day celebration at the Grandparent's house

Dylan and Ethan playing with some of Dylan's new toys.... don't ask me why Dylan is wearing a chef's hat!

Jason's sacrifice

I had to do something today that Jason is not going to be happy about. I moved his Diet Coke to a different shelf in the fridge! This is a big step...... Anyone who knows Jason, even a little, knows that he loves Diet Coke. A LOT. He drinks it.....well, like water. His Diet Coke has always had prime placement in any fridge we have had. Well, the fridge we have now is tiny, and our kitchen does not have a space for a bigger one. The top left shelf was just not being used to its full potential. I needed the snag that space for taller items so, I moved  it.  (Hopefully he will read this before he comes home. Then he will have a chance to get used to the idea of his Diet Coke getting bumped for creamer, juice and yogurt!)

Dylan the artist

Lately Dylan has taken an interest in coloring. Actually, he does not like coloing at all. He prefers drawing. Coloring books do not interest him at all. He wants plain paper to express his creativity.

I recently bought him a really big drawing pad- it takes up almost our whole coffee table. I love to watch him run back and forth to different sides of the table adding to his masterpiece. Every once in a while he looks at something he's drawn and decides it resembles a fish, or a tree. He is

so proud of himself and claps and cheers loudly. Other times I will ask him what he is drawing, and he looks at me as if I am an idiot, and says "a picture." (duh, mom!) I love seeing things like this come out in his personality. I want to encourage his God-given gifts and talents, without pressuring him as he grows and changes. I hope he continues to be this creative and artistic as he grows up; but if not, I am sure his love for drawing will be replaced with something else just as wonderful!

10am

Dylan slept in until 10:00 today! It was amazing......and since I don't work until tonight, I actually got to enjoy a quite morning :) I guess having HFMD has really worn him out. Thankfully he is on the mend, and should be back to normal within the next few days.

Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease

Dylan has HFMD! This is the worst thing we have experienced since colic. My day today has pretty much been non-stop screaming or crying, or a combination of both. It so heartbreaking to watch Dylan be in so much pain, and not be able to do anything about it.

For those of you who don't know what HFMD is, count yourself lucky!! Basically, the little guys get blister-like sores on their hands, feet & inside their mouths (hence the clever name). It is a virus, so there is no medicine for it. Thankfully, once they have had it, they are immune to most strains of it. So.....we have been pumping Dylan full of teething tablets, teething gel, and alternating between tylenol & motrin every 4 hours, just hoping to ease the pain. He does get some relief for short periods of time, but really, he has been in pain around the clock for 2 days now. It is supposed to last a week, but I am praying the worst of it will be over soon.......oh, I hope he sleeps well tonight!

Happy Anniversary

To my wonderful husband:

Thank you for 6 great years! Life with you has been
the best/hardest, most rewarding/challenging,
exciting time of my life.

I love you so much, and can't wait
to spend the rest of my life with you.

Our trip

Well, we had a great time in CA! We saw lots of friends and family, and we spent a day at Disneyland. Here are a few photos:

We survived!

We made it! I cannot believe how well Dylan did. We had an empty seat next to us on our short flight from Syracuse to JFK, which was awesome! The flight was almost full, so we were very lucky. Dylan did great, he barely cried and we were able to keep him entertained with a combination of chocolate 

teddy grahams, beanie babies, a viewfinder 

(remember those things!) and most importantly, 

a book of animal stickers.  I found those stickers at Michael's the day we left, and thank God I picked them up.  Mind you, this was all just for the 1 1/2 hour flight into JFK!! Our flight was late getting in, so we had to rush to our gate, and I even had to change his diaper once we boarded our next plane (thankfully it was just wet).  

Dylan was really wound up from the chaos of rushing to our next 

gate, so he was a little more challenging to get him settled in for 

the flight. As Jason mentioned in his blog, the woman sitting next

to us apparently though Dylan had some sort of incurable disease 

or something.... she was horrified to be sitting next to us. I, of 

course, was extremely offended by this, and it took everything in 

me to not let Dylan "accidentally" bump into her every time she fell asleep. I decided this would not do anything to help improve her view of children, so I tried my best to keep him away from her. He slept for the majority of the flight thanks to the miracle of Dramamine :) He is big enough to take the dose of medication for a 2 yr old, so therefore; big enough for Dramamine. We figured everyone on the flight would be less traumatized, and we had a better chance of making it off the plane alive if we just gave him a little help sleeping. 

Anyways, all this to say..... we made it, we are here and I am so happy to be back in CA. Just being in the airport felt more like home. There were toilet seat covers (which are not found much out on the East coast- yuck!), the toilets flushed automatically and the hand soap smells better. I know, these seem insignificant, but to me, things just felt right. We even stopped by IN-N-Out on the way home. 

Letting go of God's good

Last weekend during a discussion at out Saturday night church service, a very wise friend said that sometimes we have to let go of "God's good" to make room for His "great." This struck a chord with me, as I have been struggling with our move to NY for almost a year and a half now. It has been a slow process, but I have recently grown to appreciate many aspects of living in upstate NY. But, upon hearing those words, I realized I have never let go of all the good stuff I miss about CA. This was a huge wake-up call for me, and I can now see that I won't be able to experience the great things God has in store for us here, if I'm holding on to the good things in our past. Now, I'm not saying I will ever stop missing all the wonderful friendships we made in CA, the 9 months of sunshine, or all of our family, but I think I am on my way to a new level of acceptance- maybe even happiness- about our move. So, this is me, starting to let go of the good........to make room of the great.

"Bye-bye pee-pee"

Jason and I have begun taking small steps towards getting Dylan ready for potty training. He knows the words pee-pee & poop, and he has his own potty. We don't put him on it much, but he has used it a few times. When he does use his potty, we dump the contents into the real toilet and wave bye-bye. Dylan thinks this is really fun, and now says "bye-bye pee-pee" anytime a toilet flushes. Last weekend Jason's parents were here in Watertown, and the five of us went out to lunch. Dylan was getting restless, so he and I went on a walk around the restaurant. I decided to use the bathroom while we were up, so I took him into the stall with me. There were probably 3 or 4 other women in the bathroom while we were there. Taking Dylan in the stall with me is always an adventure, because I have to keep him from peeking under the partition to the stall next door, and keep him from pulling the toilet paper out all over the floor. So I thought I was in the clear, and we had had a successful bathroom trip- then I flushed the toilet. Dylan looked at me, smiled wide, and said at the top of his lungs........."bye-bye pee-pee!!" At that moment I had 2 options: 1) get embarrassed and try to get him to be quiet (even though everyone had already heard him) or 2) join in and say "bye-bye pee-pee" along with my very cute son. So, we said bye-bye to my pee-pee together, and received lots of giggles from the other women. Oh, the joys of having children :)

Dylan-isms

Dylan is developing quite a vocabulary. He is pretty good at pronunciation, but he has a few words unique just to himself:

• wa-wee = water
• night-night = the name for his blanket & "i'm tired"
• bubbles = grapes, apples, any fruit that is slightly round
• nani = banana
• doggy = any 4-legged animal (besides a cat)
• ee = the name of every letter in the alphabet song
• fruck = any4-wheeled vehicle (he used to say truck- now it's fruck- which can get a few strange looks from people who didn't quite hear him correctly!!)
• jew = juice or milk (he prefers juice)
  
• la-la = his babysitter Eila
• Diggy = his best friend Ethan (Ethan calls Dylan Diggy also, so we are trying to teach Dylan to say Iggy)
  

CA here we come!

My parents bought us tickets to come visit in August! I am so freaking EXCITED!!! We will be there Aug 5-15. Dylan will not be 2 yet, so we did not have to get a ticket for him. This was quite a savings, but it means he has to sit on our laps the whole time. We will be flying through the night, so hopefully he will sleep. He may have a little help from some Benadryl :) I am not looking forward to the flight at all, but I am very excited about the visit. There are so many people to see. Sadly, as of right now, there are no plans to make it up to Redding. But maybe we can work something out..... Last night I could not sleep I was so excited. I get to see my cousin's new baby, see Sarah while she's pregnant, see so many good friends, see family, and my brother gets to meet Dylan for the first time. I seriously can't wait!

What a horrible wife

Last Wednesday was Jason's birthday. I, of course, had been aware of this fact for quite some time. I had shopped for (online & in town) and wrapped some pretty awesome gifts. We began celebrating early when we visited his parents the weekend before with cake, ice cream, singing- the usual stuff. The night before Jason's b-day I let him open his gifts, which were a huge success this year (this is not always the case; I can be a horrible gift giver). Apparently this triggered something in my brain, and I forgot his birthday was the next day. When we got up in the morning I did not say a word about it. In my mind his birthday had already come and gone. Jason had to rush out the door to work pretty early- there was a huge, week long, district meeting being held at our church that week. I had to work later that day and did not get off until 9 that night. It was not until probably 6 0r 7 that evening that I realized I had never wished Jason a happy birthday!! By then it was a little late to make up for it. My only saving grace- gifts is one of Jason's primary love languages. Good thing I chose this year to go a little overboard!

my son the naked cowboy

Last Thursday we drove to Ohio for a long weekend. Some of our good friends were getting married, and so we went to stay with Jason's parents. On Friday night I gave Dylan a bath in my in-laws bathroom. I got him out of the tub, and turned around to get a towel. In that short time, he wandered into his grandparent's closet. I called for Dylan to come out, and he came marching out wearing a cowboy hat he had found inside. All I could do was stand there and laugh as I watched him proudly walk-stark naked-to the door to pound on the doorknob (which is his signal that he wants me to open the door). He apparently wanted to show off his new found treasure to his daddy & grandparents. So, I followed him out-praying he would not pee on his grandparents carpet. These are a few (g-rated) pictures so you can share in the joy of this innocent, naked, moment.

One crazy year

Ok, so Jason and I have both recently started blogs. It was actually my idea, but he started his first. But, his first blog was a list of things that happened in the past year, which I thought was a great idea. So.......... in the past year I:

• Started working at Starbucks........AGAIN!
• Bought snow boots, and actually needed them
• Learned how to snowmobile (the most fun I have ever had in the snow!!!)
  

• Went to Brazil for the first (and hopefully not the last) time
• Watched my son grow from a baby to a little boy

• Spent the night in the hospital with my very sick son
  

• Uttered the words "Oh what a beautiful day, it must be at least 35 degrees right now"
• Learned to be a better mom and wife (sometimes)

This past year was full of so much change, I really can't remember everything that happened. But, that is a little glimpse into some of the things that happened.