more from Dillan...

I've been taking to laying in Daddy's chair quite often, just to keep the nausea down. I normally end up falling asleep, regardless of the time of day.
Dillan came over to me while I was on the chair and cuddled up next to me. Then he spoke with a quite whisper:

"Mommy, can I be a bishop when I get bigger?"

Hmmm. Not sure where that came from.

"Yes Dillan. You absolutely can be a bishop when you get bigger."

Then he smiled and walked away.

He was back just a moment later with that pensive, thoughtful face that brings a smile to my face every time.

"But Mommy, do firemen go to church?"

"Yes Dillan, firemen go to church."

I heart that boy.

With no appetite, I pulled out an old reliable friend that I've loved since forever:
an orange flavored Otter Pop. No other flavor will do.
Mmmhmm...
Seriously, who throws up an Otter Pop?

big brotherly advice

(sometime last week, 40 minutes before school starts)

Mommy: OK, time to get dressed for school!
Dillan: (arms folded, huge scowl on face) I'm not going to school EVER AGAIN!
Mommy: REALLY? Well, okay. Leah, do YOU want to go to Ms Carol's school today?
Leah: (copying big brother to a tee) NO!
Mommy: NO!? Well, that's too bad. I think you would like Ms Carol's school.
Dillan: (right on cue) Yeah Leah, you get to do lots of fun things! You get to color...
Leah: yeah, color!
Dillan: ...you get to paint! You get to write your name all by yourself! You get to sing songs! And Leah, the most important thing: you get to play outside with the toys!
Leah: toys, yeah!
Dillan: School is so much fun Leah. Ms Carol and Ms Melissa are really nice and you know what Leah? They have a potty!
Leah: yeah potty!
Mommy: OK. So Leah, do you want to go to school today?
Leah: YEAH!
Dillan: Sorry, Leah. You have to be 3. I'm the only one in our family that gets to go to school because I'm 4.
Mommy: That's true Dillan. So, are you ready to go to school today?
Dillan: Yes Yes YES!



Like the quote by the boat place says in Lake Elsinore:
"You only have 18 summers to spend with your kids! How will you spend it?"
(it's not summer, but it got me thinking about how many more years of schooling are ahead)

Little Jumper

Leah hates it when Dillan is dropped off at school. She just hates it. We decided to try and find an affordable activity she could participate in while he's at school. There's dance, but I think we'll start that when she's 3. Then I found a preschool gymnastics class through the city for 1 to 3 year olds.

Today was the first day of her class. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew she did fine in Nursery as long as I wasn't around (hence, my banishment from that room), but this was all going to be new. I got her dressed in comfy clothes, put up her hair in pigtails and we were set.



Right when we entered the room she pulled out her pigtails, leaving a crazy mess on her head. There were so many fun things set up around the room, and she saw them all. There were a lot of kids with their mommies there, and I think that helped her feel comfortable.
Her teacher is fun and energetic. She walked right over to us and asked us our names. Then she took Leah's hand and showed her all the fun things that we were going to play with. Then the music started and we were off in our routines.



It was perfect. She was so into it. She jumped on the trampolines, walked the balance beams, climbed over the logs, rolled down the wedges, and swung on the bars. Soon she asked that her hair be put back "pretty." I only found one of the bands she had thrown out, and so put one spout on the top of her head. She ran right over to the teacher to show her her pretty hair.



At one point, the teacher wanted to demonstrate one of the bars. She took Leah to help her demonstrate. Leah climbed up the step, grabbed the bar, and the teacher helped lift her so that her stomach was over the bar. Then she let go and Leah held the position! Whoa! I didn't even know she could do that! She looked like a pro!



At the end of class the teacher stamped everyone's hands and feet with a frog stamp. She couldn't wait to show Dillan and Daddy her stamps.
So much fun!



By the way:



Although I had my suspicions, we didn't find out for sure until a few days before Christmas, once I started feeling nauseous. I didn't want to have my hopes up for a repeat of September, but there is a baby this time!
I finally got to see Dr B who was unavailable during the holidays. Proud to say he was very surprised to see me after seeing me in Sept and to see how far along I already am. You gotta think that man has seen it all!
So the baby's measuring to be born around July 23, but we'll see.

Ready to be done with being sick. However, I have found that sunflower seeds really keep the nausea away. Strange. I've stocked up and keep some in my car, my purse, and cupboards.
We're so excited.
Don't care if its a boy or girl. Just healthy!

Christmastime

We had a great Christmas round here. Of course, like last year, I was sure to pull out the video camera, but forgot my point and shoot, so don't have any pictures to post. I do have lots of video, but it probably won't show up here. Instead it's going to be nicely tucked away with the rest of our family home movies, to be showed only to the brave.

Dillan had a fun program at school this year, full of singing, dancing, and even a speaking part. He made many facial expressions during the program, probably too embarrassed to sing, but it was fun to watch. His teachers worked so hard to make it special, they are the sweetest people around and I am so grateful for all their love and teaching they have given to Dillan.



Dillan had a lot of fun counting down till Santa. He really tried to be good, since Mommy kept reminding him that Santa did not visit naughty boys. He loved telling the nativity story over and over with the little nativity sets we have. At the Creche Festival he made his own Baby Jesus lying in a manger ornament and hung it proudly on our tree.
We took the kids to Thoroughbred, where we walked the streets, even though it was cold. They loved all the lights, the sounds, and all the people.

Christmas Day, after all the tons of presents Dillan opened, he said "Mommy, Merry Christmas!" And gave me a big hug and kiss. He was disappointed that he didn't get to see Santa, to which we explained that Mommy and Daddy have never seen him either, he likes to be sneaky.

Leah had to be dragged out of bed Christmas morning, and didn't budge until Dillan came in and told her to get up. She found a kitchen under the tree among the rest of her goodies. She has not stopped playing with it and loves preparing our daily meals. She must get that from her grandparents!

The next day, Daddy called from work and announced that he had changed his schedule around to have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off and wanted to take a trip to St George. So, with not much planning, we packed up real quick and set out!

We were so excited to see Uncle David, Sylvia, Asher and Nelina, since they live so far away and we haven't seen them in so long! We had lots of fun playing with everyone, cooking with Grandma, laughing and catching up!



Really, the best kind of holiday you're gonna find.

Daddy's little Man!

Dillan is a man's boy. He wants to be like his Daddy. He loves to play basketball with Daddy. Before bedtime, he will normally ask: "Daddy, is the Jazz playing right now? Can I watch it with you?"

No patience

We're counting down. We're trying so so so super hard to be good.

When Grandma's package came in the mail, we were beyond excited. The kids beat me to the door when it arrived, and when there's a big box sitting on the doorstep, it's hard to set aside and forget about till later.
Dillan has been sick all week and just miserable. So when Daddy was home for awhile, we decided to open Grandma's box, hoping for a lift.

St. George, we have lift off!

Leah had a whole bag full of stuff just for her. Tinkerbell stuff. A doll, a coloring book with crayons, a costume, a wand, a purse! Plus an adorable jumper for church.
She hasn't let go of the doll all day.

She's even been singing:

"Tinkerbell...Tinkerbell...Jingle all the way!"



Dillan started opening things. An I Spy book. Wow! Star Wars guys! Cool! New church clothes with a new tie! Nice.
Then Daddy pulled out his last one. He shot me the look: It's what you think it is. The one present that Dillan has not failed to forget in months. A gun that shoots rockets and sticks to things. He started tearing open the paper, then did something strange. He picked it up and ran out of the room saying "NO WAY!" I guess he wanted to finish opening in private?!? Have his own moment? Who knows? He came back in with pudding thick dimples and a smile like a watermelon slice.
He and Daddy spent the next few hours on target practice, shooting the faces on the Christmas card pictures strung up on the wall. The boy is lovin life!



Yummy peanut brittle and some Christmas decor, finished off the box.

Thank you Grandma and Papa!

I think we've reached a slice a heaven.

New Traditions

Chris has been talking about doing this for awhile. His family painted their own ornaments when he was growing up. So we decided we'd try it this year. Everyone got to choose their own white plaster ornament and we set to work. Dillan was beside himself with excitement. Seriously, Mommy never EVER pulls out paints. He's only ever painted at school. This was rare, indeed. His technique: dip the brush, dab or brush one stroke to his ornament, wash the brush, pick a new color, repeat. His ornament is in the shape of a house. Every window is a different color. It's merry and bright!



Leah was excited as well. She mostly loved dipping her brush in the dirty water and the purple paint. Her ornament is a teddy bear. She diligently painted her bear's face over and over and over again in purple. I resisted the urge to help her. And resisted. And resisted. OK, eventually it got to me, and I tried to help her. She freaked when I tried to help her dip her brush in a different color. She held a death grip on her brush and screamed when I tried to help her paint the body of the teddy bear. I let it be, finally. She would have painted all night, if we'd let her. But I didn't do anything to either of their ornaments except maybe dab at some of the mountains of paint glopped on in certain spots. It was all I could think of to make sure they dried!


Leah holds hers and mine (a penguin).
Dillan holds his and Chris' masterpiece (a kitty in a stocking)

Chris and I eventually set to work on our ornaments. For a guy who claims to have zero artistic talent, his turned out great! Better than mine. He must have the patience. I got too frustrated and impatient to finish. But they're done and adorning our tree in all their glory! (When the kids aren't taking them down and moving them around, anyway).

Jammies on Christmas Eve has been a tradition since before Dillan was born. It's so easy to find snuggly jammies, and usually the kids coordinate a little, but I've been feeling the urge lately to better domesticate myself, so I thought I'd try something new: Sewing.
Thanks to the example and encouragement of a friend, plus the expertise of my wonderful mother, I went to work.
Picking out fabric was tough. The boys in the house are big sleeping heaters at night, so fuzzy cuddly warm stuff was out. Cotton it was.
Mom helped me lay out and cut everything.
The sewing part was simple enough. Of course there's no reason to look too close to see all the imperfections, but that's why they're PJs! Thanks for all your help Mom and thanks Crystal for the inspiration!