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.