The Monkey Times

storms, couch forts, and a wedding oh my!

2010-12-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

The first snow storm of the year came a few weeks ago and Dillan and Jeremy had to run out and build a snowman. The poor snowman is now drooping and has no head, but more snow keeps piling up on top of him anyway. Dillan was so proud of himself. This has been the first year that he has actually helped make the snowman. Other years he has been more of a hinderance than a help. He is growing up!

My mom came to spend Thanksgiving with us and since it was single digits or below zero the whole time she was here...we stayed inside a lot. Dillan decided one day to make a fort out of blankets. It was ever so convenient that our legs helped give support to the blankets. He did this all by himself.

Jeremy's little sister got married the week of Thanksgiving! Cassie and Ryan make such a sweet little couple and we are proud of them. Doing it over Thanksgiving made for some interesting situations of course...since holidays aren't stressful and busy enough right?? Plus, the forcast was announced for a huge blizzard. Thats right folks...a blizzard on her wedding day! This of course wouldn't have been too bad had the wedding and reception even been remotely close to one another. They were sealed here in Logan (in the same sealing room as Jeremy and me). The reception was in Murray at Wheeler Farm. All reports said that snow was going to hit hard by 3pm. The wedding was at noon. Hmmm, that was cutting it close. But we all got out of the valley on our way to Salt Lake by 2:30 so we missed the worst of it. But by the time we got to Salt Lake it was coming down! Jeremy ended up needing to get back to Logan Tuesday night so he could be to work at 8am Wednesday morning...long slow drive is all I have to say. He finally got home after midnight. The wedding was good and there were no major accidents...so all was well. Congrats to Ryan and Cassie.

The gator is alive and tearing up the neighborhood...

2010-11-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

When we moved back into our house last October Dillan was fascinated with the temple gardeners and all their cool toys. The temple has 3 full sized Gators they drive around all over the place. Dillan decided that he wanted one....who doesn't right?? So last year Santa found a paractically new one online for less than half the cost! Woo Hoo! He loved it when he found it Christmas morning and drove it around my mom's house with his cousin for a long time. Only problem was that the Powerwheels gator is large and HEAVY for a 3 year old. He knew how it worked and could get it to go, but the entire thing was so heavy he couldn't turn the wheel to steel. Bummer! So you had to walk right next to him to turn it every so often.

Well, it sat for several months and finally made its reappearance this summer/fall. He drives it a lot now, now that he can finally turn it himself. He thinks it is great stuff. He will drive all over the yard, the Kerr's yard (the temple president), and around the corner house on the sidewalk and back. It has been loads of fun.

We learned last week that the gardeners think it is awesome! The were working on the temple gardens on the far end of the street and Dillan had "conveniently" left the gator parked on the grass at the Kerr's house. The gardeners admitted that they looked, did a double take, and even asked each other who left the gator parked all the way down there??? LOL Then another day when it was in our front yard one turned to the other and said, "When did we buy another gator?" This made us laugh hysterically. The drove over last week and compared the two side by side and were very impressed. They thought it was extremely lifelike. Thats the point right?? Awesome!

So Dillan rides it by himself, takes Izzy for rides in it, and carries tools around in the back..."just like the gardeners do!" Makes me wish I had one when I was little, but I survived.

Halloween!

2010-11-15T09:26:00.001-08:00

So it has been a few weeks, but still...everyone wants to see Dillan's cute giraffe costume right?? Okay folks! I introduce for your viewing pleasure... Dillan the Giraffe!

He picked it out himself. When we did went to the store and picked one he told me, "I like the giraffe because it is big and tall...like me!" How cute is that?? An for sure people gave him way more candy than I noticed them giving to others. Good and bad if you ask me.

We celebrated Halloween on Friday morning with his preschool party, Friday day at Harris Research (Jeremy's office), Friday night at the ward Trunk or Treat, Saturday evening at the Donaldson home (the CEO of Jeremy's company), and Saturday evening trick or treating Quail Way up on Cliffside (full size candy to boot!).

We ended up with too much candy, but had a great time. Dillan loved it and is still taking rations from us on the candy. His favorite item collected was the bag of popcorn. The kid loves the stuff!

When Zombies Attack!

2010-10-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

One of Dillan's favorite things to do is play computer games. It started with Mom...went to Grandma...and now to Dillan. Has anyone every heard of Plants vs. Zombies? We just can't get enough of that dang game! Such a time waster, but oh so much fun.

Well, the updated version allows you to create your own zombies. Dillan has a knack for it. It automatically saves a jpg image to the desktop any time someone creates one and saves it. Sometimes I come in and the whole desktop is full. I have to delete them frequently. His favorite happens to be a pirate zombie he created in the very beginning. But today I managed to find the picture below on the desktop when I sat down to check email. I think he might be a little excited for Christmas.

Not only did he do his very best at making the colors the way they should and doing the best with what stuff is loaded into the program (the baseball hat instead of a Santa hat), but he says all day long "Santa comes when it snows." or "I will ask for this for Christmas (showing a picture/ad/commercial)" or "I want this from Santa." It is never ending! Santa has some pretty big orders to fill this year. So, now we have a santa zombie in our game.

I probably should also mention that Dillan will randoming come at you walking like the zombies in the game all slow and stalkerish and say, "They're coming." or "Brains!" The kid is obsessed....but then we know where he gets that from.

Fun with Grandma Mary

2010-10-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

Jeremy was out of town pretty much the whole week...so Dillan and I took a trip to Grandma's house to enjoy some time with her (really, to give myself another person to help with Dillan...I am really sick of the single parent thing). It was nice because my mom had time off of subbing because of UEA. We didn't really do a whole lot, but we tried to do one thing each day to get out of the house.

Tuesday we dropped Jeremy off at the airport in the morning. We hung out all afternoon and did nothing the rest of the day. Wednesday we headed to the mall and rode the escalators! This of course is the highlight of Dillan's mall trips. He loves them so much. He elected to ride the escalator instead of the carousel or the train. Okay by me...because the escalator is FREE!

Thursday we went and saw Toy Story 3...again. Dillan is in love with all things Toy Story and this was the 3rd time he had seen it. Dollar theaters are great for little ones. Give him a water bottle and a bag of popcorn and he is set! Thursday night I had a get together with some friends for a card club done by my wonderful friend, Laura Widdison (we went to high school together and were in the same ward).

Friday was spent hanging around the house again. We did meet Clint and Carrie for lunch. It was so nice to see them....it had been way too long! We ran a couple errands and spent the evening at home.

Saturday we decided to have a grand adventure. Grandma, Dillan, and I rode the Trax Train from Sandy to Gateway and trolled the mall, played in the fountain, had lunch, and went to the Planetarium. Dillan really wanted to go to the Children's Museum, but I didn't want to pay the price for just an hour of play. Another day my love, another day. We did that last time we stayed at my moms and it was a hit. We jumped on the train to head home and he requested that we stop at Temple Square to see the "really big temple." We toured the tabernacle and walked the grounds leisurely. It was nice. Then caught the train again home.

Jeremy's flight came in about 9pm and Dillan was so excited to see his daddy. Only problem is that he fell asleep half way to the airport. Ehh, what can you do. The drive home was uneventful and nice to chat with Jeremy without Dillan asking a million questions.

Overall, it was a good week, but I am so glad to have Jeremy home. I wears me out to watch Dillan all by myself day in and day out. I need that repreeve at 5pm each day! lol

Sheepishly posting...

2010-10-11T07:48:00.001-07:00

I titled this post that because it has been so long since I have done anything. I keep up with my Stampin' Up! blog, Stampin' Martha, but I fall behind on personal stuff now. I get caught up in the hussle and bussle of life and then forget about the cute pictures I have taken and the great things we have done until it is well past time to share then and figure, "heck, it has been this long, it can wait a little longer." And then it never gets done of course. So here we go!

Dillan started preschool this year. He is LOVING it! He begs to go to school and if we could, we would let him go all day long. But, he is only 3 and since his birthday falls right after Christmas he will get 2 years of preschool before Kindergarten. Next year we are hoping to get him in preschool more frequently and he is so excited about it.

Jeremy is still busy working for Harris Research in the Chem-Dry training department. He is liking his job and we, of course, love living in Cache Valley still.

As for me... I am busy being a mom, Stampin' Up! demo, and a normal person (at least trying). I can't really ever be normal.

I watched my brother's kids this weekend... um, lets just leave it at I probably won't ever do that again and made a hasty decision on the drive home last night that I didn't want more kids. Jeremy just laughed at that. Dillan had fun when his older cousin wasn't chasing him around the house with a cork gun. I did get to see my mom for a few hours, so that was nice. No one should ever have to be subjected to 1pm church I have decided. I am so grateful that our branch will never change times and that as odd as it sounds, after having 1pm church for a week, 10:20 doesn't sound all that bad anymore.

We are getting ready to pack up again. Jeremy leaves for a business trip to Alabama on Tuesday morning and won't be back until Saturday. Since it is UEA, I am pulling Dillan out of school for Wednesday and we will take Jeremy to the airport and stay with my mom all week. I just can't do the single parent thing for more than a couple days. I don't know how people do it. I think I realize now, that watching Jeremy's Grandma for a year with hardly any help really broke my spirit and now I have far less patience than ever before. I don't think that I will ever fully be the person that I was before (which I rather enjoyed). I am working on my attitude towards life, but I am still bitter and cinical towards many things....and that bothers me. If I notice it in myself, I wonder what other people think??

Anywho... If you haven't noticed already, I am just randomly putting pictures in this post of the last month or so. Maybe the next post will actually have a story behind it. I am going to start fresh and move forward from here. I won't try to catch up...because that would just be over whelming.

I okay!

2010-02-11T20:05:00.001-08:00

Seriously, where does he get his energy? He did this several times and I was only able to find my phone for this one before he gave up and went to basketball shooting again.

For those of you who don't know, I watch an 8mo old baby girl each afternoon. Isabella's (Izzy for short) parents both work and there is a few hours of overlap between when mom goes in and dad comes home. She is adorable! So no, we didn't have another baby but we do have baby stuff around because of her.

Fun times

2010-02-10T08:46:00.000-08:00

We have had some good times in the last few weeks. Here is a snippet of what we have done that seems fun to us...though not necessarily for everyone.

Dillan LOVES to visit Grandma Mary! We headed to the mall to have Jay's phone fixed one morning and Grandma suggested he take a ride on the carousel. Complete enjoyment for sure.

"I want to play with marbles!" is a phrase that we hear every day. Dillan got a marble set for his birthday and really likes it. He will let you put it together, but the entire time he will continually drop marbles from the highest point you have so far. It isn't too bad because then I know if I have skipped something...because you have to have more than one track running at the same time.

Dillan is a problem solver for sure! I hate to admit that he got it from me. I know it shouldn't be a bad thing, but when he gets into everything and doesn't ask for help with anything...it is rough. This includes putting his own DVDs in, getting food out of the fridge, turning lights on and off, and much much more. Thank goodness he hasn't figured out the child locks on the exterior doors yet. I got out of the shower yesterday and he handed me an orange, already peeled by himself. I was impressed, but he left a mess.

Jeremy visited a lot of places on his last training trip for Chem-Dry. Columbus, Baltimore, Newark, and Boston. I was so jealous when he kept sending me pictures of New York City and all the places I really wanted to go. He visited the Empire State Building, Trump Tower, Central Park, Times Square, Rockafellar Center, Broadway, Macey's, and several more.

Of course Dillan can't have a day without playing basketball. He has resorted to using the JJCole storage boxes as ball hoops inside the house when I won't let him go outside. He plays constantly. Last friday the Aggies played Nevada and we never heard the end of "I want to go to the game!" The kid has a 6th sense when it comes to knowing there is an Aggie game in town. So after watching sports center highlights a few days earlier we decided to TIVO the friday game and just save it so he can watch "the game" anytime he wants. We watch it daily. Good thing the Aggies won or he wouldn't be watching anything. The child that requests to go to bed no later than 8pm every night said he had to stay up and watch the Aggie game. He played right along with them and finally asked to go to bed with about 1 minute left in the game. He is starting to do spin moves now!

Our new best friends

2010-01-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

These are the new best friends that each one of us have. Lots of things have changed in the last 9 months and we will get to that, but for now.... these are the new time killers for each of us.

For Dillan, Woody and Buzz are his new play mates. He takes them almost everywhere and we watch the movie at least once per day. The problem is that Disney no longer sells the first or second in the store anymore and I am not going to pay a million dollars for it on amazon from someone who hoarded a bunch. The great news is that because the new one is coming out in June, they are re-releasing the first 2 in the next few months. In the mean time, we are checking them out at the library as many times as they will let us before we are forced to let someone else have a chance at them.

For me, my violin is my new best friend. I play at least an hour a day and I am loving it! I have had it about 10 days and I am already 40 pages into the book my teacher had me get. Another week and I should have all the notes in first position learned. She is surprised at how fast I am moving through things, but we are both excited things are going well.

For Jeremy, his new best friend is his training manuals....unfortunately. He loves his job to death, but he travels a lot in the first half of the year to train people all over North America. He is currently on a week long trip to the east coast right now. He and his boss, Jotham, take turns heading out to do the trainings. We miss him while he is gone, but it is for the best and it gives him lots of training himself for the future. Hopefully we can get me on a trip to somewhere exciting.

Happy Monday

2009-05-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

Most people think that Mondays are bad...sometimes they are. Yesterday was a good Monday for me. That doesn't mean that things went perfectly, it just means that some good things happened and far outweigh the bad things.

For starters! Dillan was so dang cute in the tub. He is cute a lot, but I had to catch the phrase of the week on video. He thinks it is very funny that Grandma wears a shower cap and that once in a while when I don't want to dry my hair that I put one on too. He puts mine on and giggles.

Secondly...wait for it...wait for it... I found my wedding ring!!! YEAH!!! Dillan had taken it off my nightstand over a month ago and I found all of the small bands, but couldn't find the diamond. With some encouragement, and a spare purchased by my mother, I stopped the frantic week long search and figured it would turn up when we moved out. I knew it was in the house somewhere. But, Dillan took the replacement off my nightstand yesterday and again I only found all the small bands.

"Where are Mommy's rings Dill?"

"I don't know!" is all he could respond with.

Lesson learned, twice, that if I take them off at night to put them on the dresser and not the nightstand. I was searching for the replacement and came across the original ring tucked between the mattress, the bed rail, and the slats of the bed base. I did find the replacement in the toys later in the day as well.

I don't know what I would have done if it didn't show up. The ring means too much to me to have given up hope of finding it. The ring was my grandmother's and they don't cut diamonds like it anymore. There was no way to replace the ring itself or the memories that it holds for me. Engraved by my grandfather for his dear wife and then passed on to me...I love you Grandma and Grandpa.

Lastly! Dillan discovered a new love. Not recently discovered, but discovered again I should say. He really enjoys bubbles, but what little kid doesn't right? I found this simple bubble kit at walmart that has bubble blowers that he actually can use. The wands are just not for a 2 year old. But he knows how to blow a whistle so giving him something to put in his mouth was the best option. We have already been through 6 oz of bubble solution. Who knows what we will use today, he has already begged to go outside to do bubbles at 9am.

Jeremy has new buyer trainings this week, so we won't see much of him. But even though I had to do the Monday by myself it really wasn't bad.

TGIF!

2009-05-08T20:52:00.001-07:00

Most people who know us well know that we go out on Friday nights, thanks to Mom and Dad Haddock that come up to stay with Grandma and Dillan for the evening for us. We definitely appreciate the hour drive that they make (one way) to help us out.

This Friday we didn't have any plans, but things kind of went along spur of the moment which is fun sometimes. We called a friend, Brandon, and met him at a Chilean restaurant called Yah Poh! It was pretty good. Jeremy and I were both stuffed to the max walking out.

Jeremy's sandwich was HUGE! It was bigger than the palm of my hand spread out (and I have large hands for a girl). I put his fork over the top of it and the diameter was bigger than the length of a dinner fork! I got the "small" sandwich and only ate half of it.

Dillan stayed at home with Grandma Great, Grandma, and Grandpa. They stayed out back and planted lots of flowers for Mother's Day. Grandma Alta enjoyed being outside and seeing all the colors and of course Dillan thinks being outside is a blast. He played with the sidewalk crayons again. Even Grandma Alta thought that was great and made us take pictures of our drawings.

Then when we got home, about 8:30, Dillan came upstairs and grabbed his blanket out of the crib and layed down on the couch and asked for Blues Clues. I love the fact that he tells me when he is tired now. He is pretty consistent on times too. Routine, routine, routine is all I can say.

Sidewalk Crayons!

2009-05-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

You can probably guess what he means by the pictures. We have had fun the last couple of days drawing on the sidewalk out back. And then the rain washes parts of it away and we play again.

Randomness

2009-05-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post some random pictures that we have taken over the last couple weeks. Enjoy!

Dillan likes to play with blocks. He is a pretty good stacker and then of course loves to knock them down and start again.

Jeremy took Dillan to Animal Days at the Heritage Farm. It was cancelled due to rain that saturday, but they stayed and walked around anyway and saw a few animals.

I think one of Dill's favorite foods has become ice cream. He says, "Ice cream cone momma, tonight!" He loves it. Sometimes it is messier than others, but it always tastes good. Ohh, yummy, cookie fudge!

Jeremy took Dillan on a bike ride the other night. I though they were going to "see the temple" because that is what Dill requested. Then I got a picture message with this...

I guess they made it up to campus and then when Jeremy asked him if he was ready to go home Dillan responded with, "No! See the temple!" So they had to make a trip by there on the way home.

Jeremy mowed the lawn on Monday and while he was edging it, Dillan came in the house with this pretty flower for me. It was so dang cute because he held it up, with both hands, to me while I was washing dishes and said, "Flower Momma!" with the biggest smile on his face. He was so proud.

Soccer Ball

2009-05-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

I finally was able to get the soccer video up and going. I don't know what the issue was. This is actually a new video I had to redo. Anyway, enjoy the skills of Mr Dillan. He is really funny when he rears up to give it a good kick. It is like a golf swing with his leg...all the way back and then swoosh!

Adventures of Dillan

2009-04-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

Monday we had such a long day. Without telling the whole story about the police showing up, it was still busy. I mowed the lawn for the first time of the year. It was so long since we had recieved so much rain lately. Jeremy tilled the garden (which is way too big) for about 2 hours.

Dillan loved being outside with us all evening. He was running around like crazy with freedom. A dog wandered into the yard while Jeremy was tilling and Dillan thought that was excellent! He wandered around after this dog for a long time...until the dog finally went home I assume. At least that is what I told Dillan. For days now, all I hear is "puppy home." Anywhere the dog ran, Dillan ran too.

Then Wednesday is the day that I get 2 hours away from the house with Dillan. I asked him where he wanted to go. His response, "See the Temple." He really likes driving by it. Sometimes I go out of my way just to pass by when he is with me because I like his excitement for it. So when he requested to go see the temple, how could I tell him no?? It is our time together and I want to spend it how he wants...as long as I don't have critical things to do, which isn't very often.

So we drove to the temple. It is really pretty right now because the gardeners have all the spring flowers coming up and blooming. The fountains were on for the first time that we have noticed this year. Dillan liked to see the water and the bubbles from the jets of water. He adored the tulips. I can't wait until we move back into the little house across the street so that he can see that every day. I really do miss that.

Then I asked him what he wanted to do next. He said, "Daddy work!" So we headed out to Harris Research to see Daddy for a treat. Thanks for the skittles and M&Ms Michael. They were a big hit with Dill.

After that I asked, "where to now Dillan?" His response this time, "Park!" We got back in the car and drove to a small park on 2nd N out on the West side of town. Eliason Park is the name. It is small, but the playground is good for Dillan and there is never anyone else there. So Dillan has free reign. I am impressed with his climbing skills. He gets up things that shock me sometimes. He was even impressed with himself as heard by the "I did it!" once he reaches the top.

Once we left the park and asked him what he wanted to do now. "Chicken and fies Momma." I guess he was hungry. It was 11:30 by this point so we headed to get some lunch and then went home. I really love that he is able to tell me what he wants and that he never asks for anything outrageous (yet). I definitely spoil him on Wednesdays, but that is his day out of the house with me so I don't feel bad about it at all. How could I feel bad about a 2 year old that only wants to see the temple, see daddy, go to the park, and then have lunch?

My Fabulous weekend

2009-04-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the title is misleading. It was so NOT fabulous. People are asking like crazy what happened and why I almost got arrested on Monday night. Let me start from the begining...

Two months ago I was pulled over. You can read that story here. I blogged about he great incident back in February. Long story short, in case you don't want to go and read it there, is that I was pulled over for not having the "09" sticker on my back plate even though it was registered and I had the sticker stapled to the registration when the officer asked for it.

I did everything I was told to take care of it and the next week had an officer sign off on it at the police station and he was surprised that I got a ticket for it and laughed when he signed it. He was shocked the other guy didn't let me just put it on right then. Stupid! I turned it into the court just like he, and the officer that wrote the ticket, told me to. The lady there took the ticket and said, "wait a few minutes while I check to make sure we have all the paperwork for it since you are just barely at the 7 day mark." Heaven forbid that I would be right on time to do that right? She came back a few minutes later and said, "We've got everything. You are set and ready to go." She stamped the ticket and filed it. Dillan and I were on our way home.

Well, about a month later I got the ticket mailed back to me...with a post it note on it none the less. It says, "This is a $40 fine not a fix it. Please take care of this. Thank you." No other explaination, no clue who it is from. But it is stamped with the date that I "took care of it" from weeks before. I was upset about it and called my brother Matt(an attorney) who told me to contact the prosecuting attorney for the city and explain what happened and he would probably dismiss the whole thing. I tracked down the attorney, Mark Sorensen, and called him so many times. I left messages and he never called back. So for weeks I am getting no where.

Then on this past Saturday I get a letter in the mail saying that I have a warrant for my arrest! Great right? And it being Saturday, there is nothing I can do. So Monday was busy with yard work galore. I mowed the lawn and Jeremy tilled the garden. I had rented a tiller and the jeep and trailer were parked in front of the house for the evening.

Jeremy and I were loading up the tiller and a cop pulls up. He gets out and says, "You must be Martha." Um, yes. "Did you know you have a warrant for your arrest?" Um, let me explain my side of the story. I explained the whole thing to this guy. Did you know that the officers know you have a warrant, but have no idea what it is for? He had no clue until I told him. Wouldn't you approach someone with gun charges a little different than a traffic ticket? That is beside the point though. He aparently had run the plates on the jeep while it was parked out front when he drove by earlier.

The officer was soooo nice though. He felt really bad and was completely on my side on this one. He said, "In the 17 years I have been an officer I have never issued the ticket. We are told not to. You really need to go down and talk to Captain Budge and tell him what you told me and he will help you. I am going to walk away because I think this is ridiculous."

I packed Dillan up Tuesday morning and headed to the police station...again. The secretary called the Captain down for me and he and one of his officers stood there and listened to my story and their jaws just dropped. He was livid at his officer that issued the ticket, you could see it in his eyes. He said, "I will tell you that this officer has already been reprimanded for this ticket because he issued several the same week. We don't issue this ticket, especially if you were registered and had the sticker for him. That is stupid! I will take care of it. Give me a few minutes."

He came back with the paperwork that I had given him along with the sticky note and ticket. He photocopied everything for his own use and let me keep mine. He handed the stack back to me and said, "Here are the originals for your lawsuit against us. I will 27(run) your lisence in a couple days to make sure it doesn't get suspended and I will call you when I talk to the attorney to make sure everything is done." He apologized profusely and assured me that he will talk to the officer again and that he would take care of everything. He then asked, "Did my officer arrest you last night?" I told him no, but that I didn't want him to get in trouble because he was really nice and helped out a lot. He responded with, "Good, I am glad he didn't. I would be very upset if he did for something like this."

Captain Budge called an hour later on my cell phone and told me that everything was taken care of and that everything was dismissed and there should be no more issues. He apologized again for all the time, stress, and hassle and said, "If there is anything else you need, just come find me."

So, I was a criminal on the run...for a few days. I could sue if I wanted to, but the money I would get out of it wouldn't be enough for the hassle. If I had been arrested...that would be a different story. I have renewed faith in the LCPD. Thank you Captain Budge and the nice officer that stopped by Monday (I wish I had caught his name).

Outside!

2009-04-24T14:18:00.001-07:00

The weather, up until today, has been fabulous! Dillan and I have spent a lot of time outside each day. It is good for both of us. Thankfully, Grandma has a nice sized yard that Dillan can play in. Not so thankfully, is that it isn't fenced and on a major street for Logan. He does really well at staying in the backyard and we don't notice the cars out front anymore. The noise when you go out front scares him.

He will wander and wander for as long as you will let him. Sticks are good for banging things. Balls of all kinds are always on the grass. The slide is a nice touch. And of course it would not be a complete backyard to Dillan without a swing. We spend lots of time in the swing.

Dillan is learning how to play baseball and soccer right now. Basketball is still good, but we aren't descriminating against any sport at this point. He can do what he wants. Check out his mad dribbling skills with a soccer ball! I am having problems with the video uploading. I will try again later. Sorry! :(

Dillan also liked playing outside at Grandma Mary's house last weekend. It was so nice to be able to let him out and not worry about him a single bit. With a fenced yard and grates over the window wells, I just let him play without worrying about watching like a hawk. I NEED a fenced yard.

Jeremy's Marathon and Mom's Birthday

2009-04-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

We were in Salt Lake last weekend for Jeremy's run. We were able to stay the weekend thanks to Robin! We left Friday evening and got back Sunday morning.

It was my mom's birthday on Friday so we headed to Salt Lake to pick up Jeremy's race packet and met her and my brother's family at Bonsai Japanese Steakhouse for dinner in Sandy. It was alright. Too pricey for my tastes...I would have rather spent the $50 on sushi at Takara. But it was fun to be with family. Dillan was absolutely freaked out by the grill at the table. He literally freaked and started screaming anytime you saw fire. I guess we know not to do that for a while.

Saturday morning Jeremy got up at 5am and made his way downtown to ride Trax up to the U. I told him I would meet him at the finish line at the Gateway between 10am and 10:30 when he was expected to finish.

Dillan loved the train ride downtown. "Whee Fun! Train Momma!" was all he said the entire time down... I take that back. He did pop up with "Ball hoop Momma, ball hoop!" anytime he saw a yard with a basketball hoop in it.

We jumped off the train at ESA/Gateway and we walked to the finish line. We were there just before 10am and expected Jeremy around 10:15 - 10:20. We waited and waited....I was getting worried when it got to be 10:30ish. Dillan was getting restless sitting on my shoulders for a half hour while I stood there waiting with the camera. But just in the nick of time...we saw Daddy! We cheered for him like crazy and I got some pictures.

I think Jeremy did awesome, but he is a little disappointed in himself. Three hours and 30 minutes isn't too bad. He finished, which is more than I can say. He has spent all week recovering and is still a little sore. He thinks he might try again in a few months for the Bear Lake Marathon. He is crazy!

We hurried home afterward and went to lunch with 2 other brothers and my mom. Overall, it was a good weekend. Full of things to do with family because of my mom's birthday. We made it home in time to pick Grandma up from church at noon. The weather has been beautiful so we spent a lot of time outside Sunday afternoon.

Ball Hoop

2009-04-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

Everyone that knows Dillan knows that he is obsessed with basketball. If you say "basketball," he says, "Aggies!" If you say, "Go Aggies!" He will reply with, "Ball!"

He loves the basketball hoop in the yard and anytime you are driving in a neighborhood, school, or park and he sees one he will scream, "Ball hoop!" He will shoot baskets all day if you let him. We have already raised the hoop to the 3rd notch and he is only 2. I fear that we will have to get a regular hoop next year.

This is not the intended use for his ball hoop though, but he thought it was pretty fun.

Easter '09

2009-04-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

We were able to get down to Ogden for the annual Haddock Family Easter Picnic. We went to the park at the stake center and luckily it never rained on us.

We had all sorts of goodies to eat, hot dogs, chips, salads, and cupcakes for dessert. The kids all enjoyed playing on the playground together as well.

But, the best part for everyone was the egg hunt! Since Dillan and Jonas as so much smaller than the other 3 kids, we let them start hunting a few minutes before the older kids.

Dillan absolutely loved it! It was a hit with him and he would yell out the colors of the eggs when he would see one. He is such a sweet little boy too. I was proud of him that when a cousin wanted an egg he found, he freely handed it over. The hunt was the fun part for him.

Grandma Ellen also did a peanut toss. I guess it is tradition in their family to do that, but I have never heard of one before. Again, Dill liked to collect the peanuts from the grass and put them in his bag. Not so crazy on eating them though.

Then we had Sunday dinner back in Ogden like normal. We took Grandma Alta with us this week to see the family down there. She said she really enjoyed it. Jeremy did a couple of small egg hunts with Dillan in the backyard after dinner again.

Outdoor adventures

2009-04-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

The weather was so nice last week and then it rained most of this week so we had to catch outdoor time when we could and wore jackets to keep warm and dry.

Swings are always fun.

Feeding the ducks at First Dam is fun too! "Ducks! Quack Quack!! Silly Ducks."

Adams Park is fun, especially the rock climbing wall. I can do it by myself!

Playing baseball with Mommy and Daddy is fun too! But why can't I have a left handers glove mom? Sorry Dill, the toddler size gloves are only for right handed kids. Arg! He is learning to bat left handed though and that is what is important and will give him an advantage.

Bike rides to the temple are also fun.

Lets face it...being outside is this kid's favorite place to be and it doesn't matter what he is doing!

I love you!!!

2009-04-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

I love you too!!!

Treehouse Museum

2009-04-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

We were able to get away for the night on Friday. We traded Grandma and Grandpa houses for the night. They painted for us and Jeremy cleaned carpets for them. Dillan and I got to go to the Tree House for the first time in 6 months!!!

He was so excited when we pulled up. He knew exactly where we were and was ready to have fun. We were only able to spend an hour before it closed for the night, but it was worth the trip for him.

Even though he has his own train table at home, the first stop had to be the train tables. He would have spent a long time here if I hadn't convinced him to go upstairs.

He absolutely loves the music room. We spent a lot of time in there. He likes to use the mallets to play all sorts of things. The drums are also a favorite, but I didn't get pictures of that this time.

I have to give props to the staff for updating the oval office too.

He cried when we left, but I am glad we went. Plus! I was able to divert the crying fit once we were outside and he saw the temple across the street. He is fascinated by temples and I love it!

Where is Dillan?

2009-03-31T13:43:00.001-07:00

This is the clean laundry that I was going to fold this afternoon. It was in that basket there. I left Dillan watching Sesame Street in the other room and when I came back...my laundry was all over the floor and Dillan was "hiding" somewhere.

I think the giggles and the little voice saying, "hiding!" gave it away. It was even funnier when the basket started moving like a giant galapagos tortoise across the floor.

Where is your sock?

2009-03-26T09:14:00.001-07:00

Dillan came wandering in to me this morning looking like this...

"Where is your sock Dill?"

"Sock." (pointing to the one he currently had on)

"Where is the other sock?"

"Right there." (pointing again to the one he had one still)

"Where is the one that goes on that foot?" (I pointed to the bare foot)

"No know!" (throwing his hands up in the air and shaking his head)

That is my fault for not putting his shoes on after we got dressed. He is getting better, but he doesn't keep his socks on if there aren't shoes over the top of them.

Swing anyone?

2009-03-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

A year after buying the swing we finally put it up. The weather has been so nice outside the last few days that all Dillan wants to do it go out and play. I can't blame him though. It is gorgeous out there and when you are stuck inside all winter long...and in your own house all winter long...you really need to get out. I know the feeling.

He would play outside all day long if possible. If only the yard were fenced...then it might be possible. But fencing a yard when we are only going to be here temporarily is costly and Grandma would freak out I am sure. The smallest changes set her off so changing what she considers a prized yard (that has been neglected for years) would be out of the question.

We are considering a swing set, but don't know what she would think of that. Just a cheap one that will undoubtedly fall apart in 2 years since we don't want to pay a lot for it and won't use it more than 1 year.

Happy Anniversary!

2009-03-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Jeremy and I celebrated our 6th anniversary this year. We can't believe that time has gone by so fast. It is really crazy. We didn't get to do much and it kind of got looked over, but we did have a wonderful dinner at Hamilton's in Logan on Friday night.

I have never had anything that isn't the best I have ever tasted from Hamilton's. It is pricey, but totally worth it. It is about time that Logan has a nice restaurant. We both had different steaks, and split a lobster rissoto that was to die for. For dessert you ask??? I can't resist their creme brule. I should have taken a picture of everything else, but I didn't think about it until it was over. This is the remnant from dessert. It really did have good presentation when it came out, but the raspberry sauce is so good I had to keep licking it with my finger and spoon.

Then Jeremy surprised me with these gorgeous flowers on Saturday. The lilies were just wonderful and kept blooming in turns so they always looked good.

Jay, I love you so much. I don't know what I would do without you. I hope that time flies just as fast in the future because that means that things are good. You are a wonderful dad and husband. I LOVE YOU!!!

A Bunch of Sickies

2009-03-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

The house is recovering from being sick last week. All I can say is, THANK GOODNESS GRANDMA AVOIDED IT ALL!

Dillan started to run a fever on Wednesday and by Saturday we were concerned it wasn't going away and took him to his doctor. Dillan had his very first ear infection. Amoxicillan for Dill via seringe twice a day. He is an expert at taking it now. He felt a little better Sunday and by Monday he was back to normal. YEAH! I was really tired of the sleepless night since he would wake up screaming and burning up once the tylenol wore off.

Jeremy started getting sick on Friday with similar symptoms. Pretty sure he didn't have an ear infection, but by Sunday he was miserable and on Monday we sent him to the doctor and they couldn't figure out what was wrong...not the flu, not strep, but his white blood cell count was so high he had something going on. So, amoxicillian for Jeremy in pill form 3 times daily. He stayed home from work Monday and Tuesday and by Wednesday he felt better too. Yeah!

Then, I started to feel sick on Sunday...oh dear! Round 3, DING DING!! Except with the help of Zicam and Sudafed I was feeling better by Tuesday without the fever too. I only caught a slight cold from it instead of a full on sickness. We tried to stay away from grandma as much as possible, but she relies on me so much for things that it was hard. But, thankfully, she hasn't felt anything and is still feeling good. YEAH! I think the only reason I got sick was lack of sleep for a week caring for both of them and Grandma on top of it.

We have a few doses of meds left for both boys, but all seems well now.

Wii...Whee!

2009-03-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

Dillan is so freaking cute, I can't help myself. He is really into saying "whee" right now anytime you go up/down a hill (walking or driving). It also happens for other things like sliding, or watching his crayons roll off Grandma's uneven table.

We finally found Mario Kart in stock one day and now anytime you turn it on he says the opening line right along with the game console, "Wii!" or is it "Whee!" I don't know and I don't think he cares.

Here are my boys playing together for Wii and then Dillan on his own for "Whee!" We aren't quite sure where he got the idea to slide down things. I just went into his room one day and he was sliding down the crib. Not very far obviously.

The Draper Temple

2009-03-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

My brother Paul was kind enough to secure tickets for the temple open house on my birthday a few months back so we planned a trip to Salt Lake for the weekend. I was excited to go since Dillan can recognize a temple in pictures and when we drive by it in Logan. He is an interesting little spirit...that is all that I will say about that right now.

It was very, very busy since it is one of the last Saturdays until the dedication, but it was nice to go and see it. It has a different feel to it since it is done in subdued earth tones instead of a white canvas like most others. I kind of liked the change. The celestial room was small in square footage, but seemed so large since it has 40 foot ceilings in it with a full wall of windows for natural light.....very cool.

We all met for lunch afterwards and some additional siblings of mine came with their families. It was a big crowd so everything went slow, but it was good to see everyone.

Birthday Surprises

2009-03-02T19:18:00.000-08:00

So Friday the doorbell rang in the afternoon and I thought that was odd since we weren't expecting anyone or anything. I ran down to find the UPS guy out front. He said he had a package for me and went to the back of the truck and as he did said, "someone must love you!" Out he popped with a box of flowers! How exciting! Even more exciting to see that they were addressed to me!!!

I ran upstairs and instantly knew it wasn't Jeremy since the look of shock on his face was definitely not made up. I opened the box and found a full bouqet of peruvian lillies in all colors. The card only said, "Happy Birthday Martha!"

I was in shock and Jeremy said, "Who ever did that is a jerk! I will never be able to top that." I laughed knowing that I wouldn't get "anything" from him since we had purchased a wii as a combined valentines/birthday/anniversary present since they all happen within 3 weeks of each other. I got what I asked for and that made me happy.

So I called the company to see who they were from and they couldn't tell me. They offered to call the sender and let them know I wanted to know, but it was still up to the sender to call me and fess up to it. So I dropped it.

I went to my mom's and found out that it arrived in the usual box that her's come in when she gets them and they are from my brother Matthew. THANK YOU MATT! I know I can always count on you to surprise me and make me feel good. We are enjoying them and they look better a few days later than they did when they arrived.

Giaffes and gunkeys galore!

2009-02-25T15:22:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't speak Dillan, giaffe = giraffe and gunkey = monkey. So with that said, we went to the zoo! He absolutely loved it! I wish that we lived closer and were able to go more often. He talks about the animals all the time and loves to sit and look at the pictures over and over again. His favorite Baby Einstein movies are the ones with animals.

We had a fabulous time at the zoo last Thursday. Jeremy took Thursday and Friday off after his business trip and we went to Salt Lake for a few days and spent an "all Dillan weekend." We felt like he needed some time with Mom and Dad and to get out of the house for once. Logan winter's are bad and since we don't have a fenced yard it makes it even worse because I don't want to go out in the cold either. Plus with Grandma we don't get to go anywhere.

Thursday - Hogle Zoo, dinner with cousins at Carls Jr to play on the jungle gym.

Friday - Jungle Jim's Playland, lunch with Mom and Dad, dinner with Grandma Mary and fried green beans and noodles (TGIFridays).

Saturday - Murray Park, Swimming with Dad, and dinner with Mom and Dad at Firehouse while watching basketball.

We had so much fun. So I posted pictures galore. Hope you enjoy as much as we did. LOL! That isn't possible. We had a blast and you only get to see bits and pieces.

Missing Daddy...

2009-02-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

Jeremy is in Calgary, for a Chem-Dry Convention, conducting some training. Dillan and I miss him so much. He left Saturday night and will be home Wednesday sometime. While he is gone I am going it alone with Dillan and Grandma. Sunday was exhausting. I don't know how I accomplished it without Jeremy. Good thing there are helping hands around that Dillan isn't afraid to go to while I help Grandma. Dillan was so upset that Jeremy left. He wanted to go with his dad so badly. He cried when I took him out of the suitcase, when Jeremy said goodbye, and when Jeremy walked out the door. Now all I hear is "Dada?" "Daddy?!?!" And if you ask him where is Daddy? He says, "I no know!" and throws his arms up in the air doing a shoulder shrug. It is so sad. But he will be home soon enough.

I promised I would post pictures of the beautiful flowers that I grew from a bulb. So, here you go. I am quite impressed with myself. This was the first time ever!

The next pic is of Dillan right before I put him down for a nap one day. He was watching Sesame Street and I went down to help with Grandma and this is how he was when I came back up. Poor kid was tuckered out.

These are Dill's water bottles. Yes, he has 2 of them. He loves them. I have to fill both of them at least once per day. It is good for him though. I can't complain if he wants to drink water all day long. It is a good habbit. One that I should probably have myself. He brings you the empty bottle and says, "More Mama, more wawa!" He follows you to the bathroom to fill it and then happily takes it and is on his way again. He even insists on taking it to the store sometimes and people look at me funny when they see this little boy drinking out of this little water jug. Hey, if it makes him happy then why not?

Dear Akon,

2009-02-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

I would like you to know that you have corrupted my son. As if it isn't enough that we hear your stupid song on the 20 on 20 every countdown for weeks now. I have to hear it all day long now. I hear it at the grocery store, the bank, the car, playing with toys, and in the bathtub.

I can't help but feel partly responsible since I am the one that listens to 20 on 20 while we shower each day, but that is beside the point. He doesn't sing other songs...just yours! Anytime it comes on he is obsessed and even when it isn't on he is still singing it by himself.

Please try to write a song that is worth listening to next time. And don't think that you were the first one to invent singing instead of rapping. I am sick of hearing that quote.

Thank you.

Where's the Purple Crayon?

2009-02-04T09:04:00.000-08:00

This is what I discovered this morning after being down with Grandma for an hour.

I have searched everywhere for the purple crayon and I can't find it. So it is quite possible it could happen again when I go downstairs for Grandma again. I told Jeremy about it and he said, "Yah, I saw him holding a purple crayon this morning." That is when you take it away from him! I thought I had cleaned them all up, but I guess not.

He loves to color but cannot be trusted in the room alone with crayons. I have already cleaned the police car (twice), farm (twice), and carpet (who knows how many times). Now I get to scrub the wall in his room. Good thing they are washable.

Finally Getting Around to It

2009-02-02T12:16:00.001-08:00

First off, this was totally lazy of me...but hey it happens to all of us sometime or another.

I put the registration sticker on the jeep today, let me also mention that I got the new sticker in October of 08 (sheepish smile). I have been carrying it around in the diaper bag for months now. Let me also mention that I have only filled the jeep with gas twice since we moved to Logan in October. One of those times was because I drove to Salt Lake for Christmas. I still have half a tank in it. Needless to say, I don't drive much. I don't get the chance to leave the house other than to grocery shop once a week.

Well, today I decided that I would make a quick trip to the bank to deposit a check so that I could pay some bills before Jeremy's paycheck comes on Friday. On my way home from the bank, I got pulled over. LOL The officer was super nice and Dillan loved it. I got a "fix it" ticket. I did think it was strange that he wouldn't let me put the sticker on right then and have him sign the form, but I guess it must be very dangerous to get out of the car on 2nd E in Logan. Go figure.

So now I have to make time more than 5 days, but less than 14 days from now to go down to the police station. I have to have an officer sign the stupid paper. Then I have to take it to the justice court and give it to them so I don't have a warrant for my arrest. My goodness!

So, that was my morning. If I had dropped Jeremy's zune off at his office before coming home I wouldn't be in this mess. I wouldn't have been on 2nd E to begin with. But, he said he didn't need it and I figured Grandma was home alone. So much for trying to get home. At least it won't cost me anything.

The other part to the story which I find very interesting is that he was concerned with the fact that I hadn't put the sticker on, but I had one....but he wasn't at all concerned with the fact that one of my brake lights is out. Whatever! Brake lights aren't important right? Stickers are very important. They must be living in a world where Dillan is King. Stickers are everything!

Locks of Love

2009-01-29T10:53:00.000-08:00

"Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics.
Our mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need."

I made a drastic change last night. I have been talking about cutting my hair for a month or so now. I really wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love but I didn't think that I had enough.

The last time I cut my hair was when we moved to Ogden after Dillan was born. So it has been just under two years since scissors have touched my hair. Well, Grandma had her hair cut yesterday and I mentioned to the hairdresser that I wanted mine done, but I wasn't sure. She said she had time and knew what needed to be done for Locks of Love.

We found a measuring tape and voila! My hair is now gone. We cut 12 inches in the pony for Locks of Love and then she trimmed another inch or so off to make it even in back. It is way shorter in the back than I wanted, but it had to be to get enough to donate. I figure even though I hate the back, in a month it will be long enough that I can handle. From the front, I like it. I guess that is all I can see anyway, but I can feel the shortness on my neckline and I feel like a boy. But all for a good cause I suppose.

Happenings around the House

2009-01-29T10:28:00.000-08:00

We have been doing some indoor gardening. I don't have a green thumb at all, but Grandma insists on keeping a garden inside that I have to water twice a week.

It is tradition to grow an amaryliss flower around Christmas in the Tolman/Haddock families. My mother in law gave me one this year to try out and Grandma of course has the new one and the one from last year that we were attempting to get a second year blossom out of. It came back, but no blossom, just leaves. They are almost ready to flower at this point. The buds have broken open and you can see the flowers, but no blooming. I will post pictures of our beautiful blossoms when they come. For now, here is what you get.

We also got a new stove. I don't know when Grandma replaced her's last, but when we moved in 2 months ago 2 burners were already not functioning. It is hard to cook for a family of 4 with only 2 burners. Well, 2 days ago, one of the 2 functioning burners...the big one...started to spark at me. That scared me so I decided it was time to replace the stove. We are on a budget and so is Grandma. Plus we don't know how long we will be in the house so we didn't want something top of the line and fancy that we won't get to enjoy. I found a used one on KSL.com and Jeremy picked it up yesterday. Not too shabby for $55, and the best part is that it all works. It will work for us for now. Thanks for Harris for letting us borrow the truck to go to Brigham City, and not having to pay for gas. What a nice job Jeremy has. Here is a look at the old and the sort of new.

Look What I Can Do

2009-01-26T19:04:00.000-08:00

Dill is obsessed with playing basketball and thinks it is very funny to throw the giant ball in the hoop. The problem being that he can't reach the ball to get it out and keep playing. The usual scene is him getting it stuck and then screaming and whining "Stuck! Stuck!" until someone comes to pop it out for him. Well, he figured out how to get it unstuck without help now. I am glad he can do it himself, but not sure how much I enjoy the method yet.

Grandma Time

2009-01-20T09:53:00.000-08:00

Dillan loves to color and he loves his Great Grandma. The two combined was too cute not to capture. He squeezes into the chair with her and colored away for a half hour before I actually forced him to get up since it was time for Grandma's lunch.

USU vs. Fresno State

2009-01-16T09:38:00.000-08:00

Harris Research had tickets for the entire company for Thursday's game. We didn't get the great seats on the floor like last time, but we got to go and watch the game. Plus, they catered dinner from the Coppermill for us in the Champ room before the game.

We took Dillan to the dinner portion and since we did get the parking pass that was right outside the doors of the spectrum in assigned parking, we figured we would take him home right as the game started so that we could enjoy the game for ourselves. 2 years olds don't sit through 2.5 hours of basketball games right? WRONG!

The whole time at dinner the only thing Dillan could talk about was basketball, b-ball, and balls. We felt bad that he was so excited to get to see basketball live we had to let him stay. We figured he would last about 10 minutes and then we would have to drive him home to stay with Grandma and Great Grandma. Thanks for coming up Mom! Dillan sat there very happy and enjoyed himself thoroughly.

Big Blue was the highlight any time he came on the court. Dillan would yell "Blue!" He came up close to us at one point. So, Dill just sat/stood there the entire game! I got him a bag of popcorn and he ate, watched, cheered, clapped, and danced his little heart away.

Ever seen a 2 year old do the Scottsman...we have. He swings his arms right along with the crowd. He would dance to the music and scream "yeah!" when the crowd would roar. The only problem is that he doesn't yet distinguish when the crowd is screaming with excitement and when it is screaming because of a bad call. He just cheers no matter what.

We always knew he was in love with basketball, but for someone who can't sit through anything he sure was a pleasure to have at the game last night. We will definitely take him again. There were even some people before we went in to the stadium that said, "Oh, he is so cute with his red hair. He could be a little Wilkinson." For those who don't know, Gary Wilkinson is the red headed, starting center, and star of the team.

Boise on Harris

2009-01-12T14:57:00.001-08:00

Jeremy had a quick business trip to Boise/Nampa Idaho last week and we were able to tag along thanks to several people. Thanks to Jotham for making the suggestion that Jeremy take his wife along. Thanks to Mom and Dad Haddock for watching Grandma for a couple days. Thanks also goes to Harris Reasearch for footing the bill. Yeah!

We made arrangements to have Grandma stay in Ogden for a couple days. Dillan and I took her down there Wednesday at lunch time and came right back to get in the car with Jeremy to drive to Boise. Dillan was excellent on the drive. He ususally is really good in the car. He slept for an hour, colored for an hour, and played with the school bus for the other couple hours.

4.5 Hours after leaving Logan, we finally arrived and checked into the hotel in Nampa, ID. They were so friendly and nice and had a crib set up already before we got there. They even gave us a DVD player to watch Baby Einstien for a few days. We had dinner at the local TGIFriday's and then came back to do a little swimming in the pool. It was indoor, but the water was a bit chilly for Dillan's liking. He enjoyed it a lot, but didn't get to stay in long. He really likes swimming with his dad.

We put him to bed after a warm bath and hung out in the lobby for a while watching TV on the big screen while he fell asleep. Then we snuck in the room and got in bed too.

Jeremy got up early to get ready for his all day training he was conducting. He met Shaun, the other HRI employee that was there to help out, during breakfast and took off. That left me and Dillan to do whatever we wanted with a car all day long!

We showered and changed and headed to Boise, 20 minutes east, to the outlet mall. We spent a little time there and then went to the Boise Discovery Center at the recommendation of the hotel manager. Dillan had a lot of fun. It wasn't geared toward Dillan's age group, but we found a few things that kept him busy and happy for a long time. After spending a hour or so there we had lunch together. Dillan told me he wanted "chic-kin" and "fies" so we went to McDonalds. He ate an entire happy meal by himself and then asked for some of my lunch. He is a big eater for not a very big kid.

We drove back to the hotel to have a nap. I put him down and hung out in the lobby forever while he slept. I read my book and watched TV. The kid sleeps forever! I put him in bed at 2:30 and he didn't get up until we walked in the room at 5:30 when Jeremy got back.

We had dinner together at a local mexican restuarant and then did some more swimming at the pool. And then the same routine for bedtime. We had to be up early in thr morning to drive back to Logan since Jeremy had a meeting at 1pm. We left just after 8 and made it just in time.

All in all, we had a great time. It was nice to get away for a day. It was very nice to spend the day with Dillan and devote an entire day to just us. He plays by himself so often at home while I take care for Grandma. He deserved to have some mommy time. Plus the best part is that with what Harris pays to Jeremy for going in gas, food, and hotel we actually come out slightly on top of things. It was great!

Pink

2009-01-12T09:14:00.000-08:00

I was getting ready in the bathroom this morning and Dillan was in the tub. I had the XM radio turned on as usual and we were rocking out as he played. Then a song came on that featured Rhianna called Live Your Life. I don't care for it, but Dillan yelled out "Ana!" I thought it was strange and then he started to dance around in the tub. I laughed at it and kept getting ready. Then the next song came on. It was Pink's So What. He immediately yelled out "Pink!" during the intro and that made me turn around quickly and he started to dance again. I thought that was so crazy! I haven't purposely done anything that would make him realize songs were by certain people...and specific songs at that.

I have noticed that he really likes songs by Rhianna, Britney, and Pink, and Michael Buble. He dislikes country music, rap, and Brandy for some reason. He will let you know what he likes by dancing and what he doesn't like by plugging his ears with his fingers. Too cute!

We have a 2 year old!

2009-01-02T08:51:00.000-08:00

It still boggles my mind that he is 2. We celebrated his birthday on Saturday so that it could be with all the family and his cousins. We ordered in pizza and I made a fabulous cake. It was a big hit with everyone, especially Dillan. Bert and Ernie turned out much better than anticipated.

Dillan opened presents much better at his birthday than at Christmas. I think there was less going on and we limited all the distractions until he was done. He got a wiggle car which he rides around grandmas house. Thanks for picking that up mom! He also got a set of Fisher Price Easy Link stuff. He enjoys the computer so much. It is nice that it locks down the whole computer and I can just leave him to do what he wants and not worry about getting to sites he shouldn't and files on the computer he shouldn't.

He got a cool peg board from Grandma and Grandpa with a reverent book. Larry gave him some pattern blocks. Even great Grandma has been in on the peg board.

He had his 2 year old check up this week and the doctor says that he is really smart for his age, and then said, "And he is really cute!" I said, "Thanks, we think so too." He said, "No, he really is." That was nice. We think he is as cute as can be. His hand eye coordination is was above what it should be and he talks more than average for his age, even though I think he should talk more. He is still short, skinny, and has a large head. Hopefully he hits a growth spurt here and becomes average. It is strange because everyone always says he is big for his age, but I guess not according to the doctor. Oh well!

Merry Christmas!

2009-01-02T07:39:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas, the week of, down at my mom's house in Sandy. It was nice for both of us to have some time off.....me especially. Aunt Shirley came in Monday afternoon and stayed until Saturday morning and then some of the cousins were here until Saturday night. So, I got the whole week off! It was fabulous.

Dillan and I left Monday afternoon and headed down on our own. Jeremy had to work Monday and Tuesday. He came down right after work on Tuesday. Monday was spent hanging out with my mom and sister. She had driven in with her daughter, Gillian, from San Diego on Sunday. Her husband had to work too and was coming in Christmas Eve.

Tuesday we got up and spent the day shopping together and having fun with the kids. We went to the mall and shopped, had lunch, and rode the carousel. They loved it. Gillian sings, "Up and down on the merry-go-round!" Tuesday night Jeremy and I were lucky enough to have family babysit and went out to dinner with some friends. We met Clint and Carrie are McGrath's and had a nice dinner. I am sure the waitress was sick of us sitting around after dinner, but there were plenty of open tables so I didn't feel too bad. Thanks for dinner Carrie!

Wednesday we headed up to Ogden to spend the day up there doing Christmas with Jeremy's parents. They drove to Kansas late that night, to miss a storm, to spend Christmas out there with the other kids. I didn't get any pictures and I should have. We had a great night. Dillan got a book, hooded towel, cookie monster legos, mr potato head, and cars. I got this great bag that my mother in law made, and salt city candles....mmmmm. Jeremy got running clothes. As a family we got some cool decorations for the house to personalize it a bit. I am sure there was more, but I can't think right now.

Since the kids don't quite understand Christmas yet we got to sleep in until 8. We opened stockings and had some breakfast and then started in on the presents. Dillan wasn't keen on opening presents because Santa had left him a semi-truck that had matchbox cars in it and that is all he wanted to do. I opened a few of his just to get it done. We got a framed family picture, food storage, cash, and a nice pyrex dish from my mom. Dillan got a big hummer that matches daddies remote control one, a toddler bed, cars, a monkey, and too much other stuff to think about. The highlight of his christmas was his train table. I had picked it up months ago for $60 after taxes from Toys R Us on sale with a coupon on top. Awesome deal! He plays with it constantly.

Jeremy gave me a gift certificate for a massage at the Sports Acadamy and cash to go shopping! YEAH!!! Plus it included him watching Dillan for the day. He got shoes for work and running, a new watch, socks, yaktrax, and more. We had a pretty good Christmas.

Friday my mom and I went shopping all morning. That was nice to get out without the kids. Then all 3 girls had manicures done that afternoon. I have a hard time with polish on my nails so it is already gone, but it was nice to have the massage and pampering. I found a place here in Logan to do it for $10. That might be a good release for only $15 including tip.

Friday we went to Temple Square on Trax with Lisa, my brother's girlfriend, and Iris, his daughter. Jared had to plow all week and was exhausted so he stayed home and slept. There was another storm coming in and needed all he could get. Iris spent a lot of the week with us.

Saturday we did Dillan's birthday party even though his birthday wasn't until Sunday. We had to be back in Logan Saturday evening and wanted to spend his day with the family. I will do another post dedicated to his birthday, so look for that.

New Pictures!

2009-01-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

I can't decide if it is a blessing or a curse to be able to do pictures for birthday and Christmas all at once. Sometimes I wish that he could be wearing something cute and summery, but he is always dressed for the weather and the backgrounds they have are only winter. But, we only have to go once a year, so that is very nice.

These were all taken the week before Christmas. I haven't copied them to put them in cards yet, so don't fear if you haven't recieved one. I don't know when it will get done. I have the cards and everything. Where does time go? Don't forget the other two that are posted at the top of the page and on the side.

Here Comes Santa Claus

2008-12-17T20:41:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night we took Dillan and Grandma to the Ward/Branch Christmas party. Grandma hadfun seeing old friends who came and Dillan had fun running around and meeting Santa! This isn't his first Christmas. At 1, he loved sitting on Santa's lap but not so much this year. Maybe it will be better next year again. His fear is why I am kneeling right there with him. He did get a sack full of "teats" aka treats from Santa and a leftover sack in Nursery on Sunday. All in all, it was a good night. Thank you to Mom and Dad Haddock for coming and helping with Grandma.

Then, on Saturday and Sunday it snowed all day long. Saturday is my only day to get out of the house and I feel bad, but sometimes I just have to sneak out or I get a guilt trip from Grandma. She had no idea I was gone. Jeremy stayed home while she and Dill slept. I got some Christmas shopping done and even got some things from the storage unit, like stockings for Christmas. You can't have Christmas without a stocking from Santa. It was very nice. I need lots more of that. It is so relaxing doing what I want to do for a change. Everything is always done on Grandma's time table.

Dillan learned a new bath trick on Saturday night. He can now officially be called "Super Dill!" He was took cutetoput his arms up in the air and keep the wash cloth on his back the whole time. Then when it would come off he would hand it back to you and say, "elp! elp!"meaning help me please.

Dill has also discovered a new love inside the house, instead of the basketball hoop outside (which he will never get to since the snow comes to his knees at least). He LOVES to color. We have had a few coloring mishaps, but daddy has cleaned them up. It is nice to have access to professional cleaning whenever you need it....and of course the chemist who developed all the products at your very disposal. The beloved police car no longer has purple crayon all over it. We found this great book that you color on and then a papertowel wipes the coloring right off. I was skeptical when I bought it, but for $1.99 I figured why not? It is the best thing ever! Seagull Book people. They have one for Sesame Street and one for Blues Clues.

And last but not least, Dillan loves to read with his Great Grandma. She thinks it is pretty funny because he gets up gives her a book, flips a couple pages, gets down and grabs another book, and the process starts all over again. Anyone that will hold a book and read to him is his best friend.

USU vs. Montana State-Northern

2008-12-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

HRI (Harris Research Inc.) has season tickets to the USU basketball games. I guess they donated some money to the university and they got tickets and parking passes in return. It was the season opener that Jeremy and I got to attend. Thank you to Mom and Dad Haddock for baby/grandma sitting for us.

We got to park in the parking lot at the Spectrum, Jeremy didn't even wear a coat we were so close. Then when we got there we were on the 2nd row right behind the stats table and USU bench. The best seats ever! We had so much fun. There was one other couple from the office and then the CEO and one of his friends. So all 6 of us had a good time. Thank you to Craig, the CEO, for buying everyone drinks, snacks, and popcorn. It was a fabulous night!

Who knew that we were so mean though. I had never been to a basketball game before and even though the team is good, the crowd is ruthless. We ended up winning by over 20 points and we let them know that. I hope that we get another set of tickets before the season is up.

Halloween and the Monkey

2008-12-10T18:31:00.000-08:00

For Halloween I took Dillan to Harris Research to go Trick or Treating around to everyone's desks and to see Daddy. I don't do dressing up, but at the office they had a costume contest and Jeremy actually made it to the top ten and won $10. Everyone thought Dillan was the cutest little monkey they had ever seen. I think so too. Plus, you just can't go wrong with a warm, cute, costume that was less than $15.

Then once Jeremy got home we took him to the ward/branch Trunk or Treat at the church. Dillan has this thing about eating snacks out of the "trunk" of his little police car so I am sure that getting candy from everyone's trunks at the church was no big deal. I am sure he thought he was the most normal person there. Side note, he does actually take any snack you give him and put it in the trunk of the foot car and eat it from there. He will promptly throw the wrapper away once the treat is in the trunk before eating too. It is amazing. I don't know where he learned it.

We also took him to the Haunted Woods at the TreeHouse museum the week before. He wasn't so keen on that. You really need to be able to sit through several stories at a time before going. They say 2+, but Iwould say more like 4+. He did get candy and we had fun anyway. It was a good chance to get out of the house. He got so hot that he ended up taking off his monkey top. The monkey is an outdoor costume for sure.

The move to Grandma's House

2008-12-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

It all happened so fast. We still can't believe that I quit and we are living in Logan permanently. On top of that we can't believe what we got ourselves into sometimes taking care of Grandma Alta. I am happy to say that Dillan was great through the whole thing and it is over and done with. We still have tons of boxes to go through, but in time it will all work out.

For the first month, we were oh so happy to be line drying out laundry in the basement because the house is so old it was never wired for a dryer. Grandma has her laundry done by her daughter who takes it to her house to do it and then brings it back. We weren't so fortunate. But, we finally have a dryer....so allis soft and well now.

Dillan did some exploring and found this great field in the neighbor's backyard. If only that silly red car weren't there...this would be an awesome picture. We still like it though.

Dillan found this rocking horse in Grandma's basement. He thinks it is great fun. We ended up bringing it upstairs for a bit until we got more toys unpacked. Now it is back in the laundry room. It needs to be repaired. After years and years of kids riding it, it is starting to come unattached from the base.

The Bryce Canyon/ Junction Trip

2008-12-10T15:33:00.000-08:00

http://courthousevacations.com/

Every year over UEA the my family gets together and goes somewhere for the long weekend. This year we went to a little town about an hour NorthEast of Cedar City called Junction, UT. We rented the Courthouse Inn for the whole family and had a great time. Here are some pictures from the weekend in Bryce.

Tons of family and lots of fun over the weekend. I wish I had taken more pictures. The courthouse was amazing and was a fairly good deal for a lot of people. Plenty of room and a fully stocked kitchen and lots of stuff to do around the house. All we brought was food and ourselves.

These were taken at one of the stops in the park. Dillan loved to get out and walk around doing mini hikes.

This is a picture of the 3 grandkids that were all born within weeks of each other. They are the best of friends. If we had only had Logan in the picture too since he is counted in that group but born a few months later. From left to right you have Eli, Bradley, and Iris.

New Blog!!!

2008-12-05T21:00:00.001-08:00

Come one come all to the newest blog on the block! I created a blog for things about Grandma. That way all of you can share in the years that she has left. Check it out. I will have Jeremy update the family blog with a link on the side for easy access for everyone. For now click on the link below.

http://adventuresingrandmasitting.blogspot.com

Wow, crazy times!

2008-12-04T08:54:00.001-08:00

Sorry I haven't kept up with the blog lately. We were without internet for just over a month during the move to Logan. We have officially moved in with Jeremy's grandma, Alta. She is 91 and definitely the stereotypical old person who is set in their ways and forgets a lot. It is crazy, but it allows me to stay home with Dillan full time while I care for both of them. Though I do have to say that she takes ten times the effort that Dill does. People say it is like I have 2 kids, but I think it is more like 4 or 5 sometimes.

The house finally sold. We were set to move over thanksgiving weekend so that family could be with Alta while we were gone, but they moved the closing up by 10 days and we ended up having to move in a week which was incredibly hard since I work 24/7 with Alta and Jeremy is working full time too. The family helped out and we managed to get things packed on Friday and moved on Saturday. It was crazy! Now I am sifting through boxes and deciding what can stay in our little space upstairs at her house and what can go to storage. There wasn't time to do that before we packed like I had hoped.

Dillan is amazing and is handling everything in stride. He is the best little boy I think I have ever met. He is so good to stay upstairs playing with toys all by himself several times a day while I go down and help Alta. Sometimes the poor kids plays by himself for an hour before I can get back up there. He is truly a blessing from Heavenly Father, who I am sure knew that one day we would be doing this and wouldn't be able to handle a regular toddler.

I haven't found the converter for the memory card in my phone yet, so I don't have pictures to post quite yet. I hope to find it today and will put some up here from the last month. I will update everyone on the cool things we have done once I get pictures downloaded.

Moving Back to Logan

2008-10-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Just an FYI for anyone who cares:

Last week Martha and I began the process of moving back to Logan. I have been working there since March. We have not sold the house yet but my grandma (91) fell the previous week and so we have decided to move in with her for a while. This will allow Martha to stay at home with Dillan and Grandma while I work. It will allow Grandma to not have to go to a nursing home and be able to stay in the house where she is comfortable. We are moving in the upstairs. It also eliminates the daily commute for me which I have been loving. Martha quit her job and she has been here in Logan full time since last Wednesday.

Yesterday, we finally got an offer on the house. It was not a very strong offer, so we countered back. We should hear back today to see what happens. Hopefully, it will all work out. I'll try to keep you all posted.

Chargers vs. Broncos

2008-09-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

I wish I had good news for Chargers fans, but I don't. I still think the game was definitely unfair. TWO fumbles should have gone San Diego's way, but the ref screwed up on one and there were"technical difficulties" with the other one that prevented a replay in the booth. Clearly the reply on TV showed it was a Charger ball. The ref error caused us the game in the last minute.

The good news is that Dillan sported his new Chargers gear for the game. He actually slept through almost the entire game, but as soon as he woke up we made sure to put his jersey on and root for the better of the two teams. Thank you to Uncle Ramiro and Auntie Sarah for sending us some good duds for Dillan.

It all started when I sent the following picture to my brother-in-law, an avid Chargers fan. He would not stand for his nephew to be in such awful clothing, so he made sure to go out and buy some good stuff right away and send it fedex so we had it for the game. Plus, mommy decided not to do laundry on purpose so that the shirt of the "team that shall not be named" was still dirty on sunday.

Jeremy went nuetral and didn't wear chargers or broncos stuff. I am slowly but surely converting him to the good side. He figured that he would like to see his home team win and go 2-0 for the season, but he really didn't want the Chargers to be 0-2, so he said he didn't care who won. He has been gracious and hasn't rubbed it in my face, or Ramiro's for that matter.

Utah State Fair

2008-09-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

We drove down to Sandy Friday night to stay with my mom. We wanted to take Dillan to the fair so he could see the animals. We thought he might like that...and we were right. We saw all sorts of farm animals: pigs, sheep, goats, cows, steer and horses. I will let the pictures show for themselves. He absolutely loved petting the animals. He face would just light up as soon as his little hands felt something.

We also saw many other fun things at the fair. There were lots of booths with people selling things, lots of food stops, and of course lots of people. We walked through the craft halls and listened in on numerous food demonstrations as we walked past.

Jeremy had to have a funnel cake, because what would a fair be without a good funnel cake? He got it with Bavarian creme, chocolate topping, and whipped cream. We liked it, but it got to be too much at the end. Dillan really enjoyed it, but even he started to refuse to eat it half way through.

Overall we had a really great time and maybe next year we will be brave enough to let him have a pony ride rather than just pet the ponnies having a rest. It was nice to get out, walk aimlessly, and enjoy the company of my mom as well.

JDRF Walk

2008-09-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

Harris Research, Inc. sponsored a JDRF (juvenille diabetes research fund) 5K walk on Saturday up in Logan. The whole company was given shirts and all the families showed up to walk it. The funny part about it is that HRI had shirts printed for their employees and families, but the printer screwed up and printed some of the logos opposite of what they should be (ie. the back logo on the front and the front on the back). Then some of them had double logos (ie. the back logo on the front and back). Then, they ran out of the shirt color and just started printing them on any color blue they could get. It was pretty funny, but no one seemed to care that much.

Some people also brought their dogs with them. Dillan loves dogs! He just thinks they are the greatest thing ever. Good thing all our neighbors have nice dogs. He gets his fill that way and I don't have to clean up after it.

Dillan happily rode in the stroller the entire time and munched on treats they had at the beginning, end, and half-way points. With a quick stop at the park for some swings and then back in the car to go home we had a pretty good morning.

I don't have pictures to show it, I should have thought about that, but Saturday night the branch had an International Night at the church. Even thought our records aren't technically in the branch we still got invited since I play the organ for them every Sunday in sacrament meeting. I am so glad that we went. It was supposed to start at 6...which if you have hispanic friends you know really means 7. "It starts at 6, that is 7 branch time" is what the high council rep told me.

The food was amazing! They had people representing several countries, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Aregentina, and Colombia. Tons of food, lots of music, and tons of people equal a really good time.

We learned that Dillan can eat corn on the cobb or elote. After each bite he would look at me and say, "Mmmmm!" It was so dang cute. The members of the branch thought he was a hoot because he would get up and dance like crazy and then when each song would end he would clap because he thought it was the proper thing to do. He just wandered around the gym with the other little kids. We love the branch and even thought I don't speak fluent spanish I really enjoy going. There is definitely a spirit about their meetings that I don't get in our ward.

Colorado Balloon Classic

2008-09-05T08:24:00.001-07:00

For the holiday weekend Jeremy, Dillan, and I...along with Jeremy's family went to the Balloon Classic in Colorado Springs, CO. It is kind of a tradition for his family since that is where they are from (for the most part). It was a super long drive, 12 hours there and 10 hours back. It isn't something that I would want do all the time. Dillan was a great traveller for the most part.

We had Dunkin Donuts for breakfast both mornings we went to see the balloons. Dillan enjoyed the sugar rush for the morning. On Monday, he ate almost a full donut and then hung out for a while. The rest of us ate all the donuts and about an hour later he found a donut box and pulled it down and was checking to see if there were any left. To his dismay, there wasn't. He was sure he would find something in that box. Once he realized he wasn't going to find anything he put the box on the grass and started to step on it. The pictures were funny, but watching the whole process was hilarious.

The balloons were great. The weather was decent so they actually flew in the sky. They said there were 73 balloons there this year. It was pretty cool on Saturday, but Monday was kind of a bust since not very many went up due to weather conditions. Dillan loved to see them up close. You were actually on the grass with the balloons and could touch them blowing up and see everything first hand up close. At first the loud noise of the fire and hot air blowing into the balloon scared Dillan, but he realized what it was and then was mezmorized by it. He just wanted someone to walk him all over and see all the balloons, or boons as he calls them.

Dillan was fun to watch through the whole thing. He would wonder from balloon to balloon and then when one would start to take off he would hurry over to that balloon and stand under it as it flew up.

Seeing all his cousins was fun too. At one point a reporter came up and asked Jeremy what was going on because he noticed all the red heads and wanted to know if we were from around there. We told him we were from all over and met here every year for the balloons. There were 7 red heads there that morning...and that isn't even all of them. We had Jeremy, Dillan, Allison, Cassie, Tracie, Lindsey, and Tanner. We were missing Clara, Calvin, and Mason.

We took a small car trip to Garden of the Gods. It reminds me of somewhere in Moab with all the red and dark green vegitation. There were hiking trails and lookouts. Also reminded me of driving through Arches....similar scenery, but without the arches of course. It is strange because it is right in the middle of the city.

We got to see Jeremy's best friend Kyle, and his fiance and new baby. Aubrey is sooo cute and tiny. She is smaller at 6 weeks than Dillan was when he was born (not to mention he was 2 weeks early!). We stayed with them one night and Dillan showed off his "skills" to Uncle Kyle and Aunt Beth.

The trip was short for how long the drive was. It was nice to get out, but I still can't get over the drive. We shall see what happens next year.

Long time no Post!

2008-07-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am really sorry to all those who get a kick out of reading our blog. I just can't find the time or energy to do it consistently right now. Let me give everyone an update on what has been going on the last few months and you might understand why.

No, we are not living in Logan....YET. The house still has not sold. The market is slower than a snail right now. We have high hopes that this fall things will pick up. In the mean time Jeremy is still commuting to work every day, 90 miles. So, with gas prices above $4 a gallon you can only imagine what that does to our bank account. We figured it out this week and it costs an average of $12.50 per day to get to work and back just for him.

The good news is that Jeremy loves his job and we are glad that we made the decision to accept it. Once the house sells and we move things will be a lot more easy going. In fact, Jeremy's boss is giving him some options as far as helping out until the move happens. The issued him a cell phone and wireless connection for his laptop and told him to try working for home a couple days a week. Then if he wants he can try and work 4 ten hour days for a few weeks and see which one works better until we are in Logan permanently. I thought that was really nice of the company to take the innitiative to come to Jeremy about it knowing that it was costing a fortune to come to work. I guess that means that they like him enough to keep him around and not make him want to quit due to the commute. We will see how the new schedule goes.

I am still at Convergys, ugh, until the house sells. I am doing recruiting and I like the idea of recruiting, but the office I work in is not the greatest environment. Some people are really hard to work with..ie they have bad attitudes, treat me and others like crap, and there is way to much back biting. I can't wait until I can quit and be in Logan. I am drained by the time I get home from work and by the time we Dillan in the bath at 7:30 and in bed at 8, I am in bed too.

Dillan is doing amazing through the whole process. He loves the day care we use and Jeremy and I can't complain with it at all. That has been the one thing we can rely on to always work out. He enjoys it there, but that doesn't mean he isn't ready for Mommy to pick him up and go home at the end of the day. We try to spend some time outside each evening, which is Dillan's favorite place to be. He will literally scream and throw a fit when you bring him back in or shut a door before he can escape to the outside world. Then, on Friday evenings we like to head the the TreeHouse Museum. If you have kids and haven't been there...you need to. It is ten times cheaper than Discovery Gateway and tons less crowded. They stay open late Friday evenings for Alphabet Soup night. Check it out! It is right inbetween the Ogden Temple and the new movie theater/sports complex downtown Ogden on 22nd.

Dillan continues to amaze us. He is still a skinny peanut with a giant head. The doctor is impressed by his verbal skills and dexterity with his hands and arms. He was vacinated for the Chicken Pox...hallelujiah we won't have to deal with that, fingers crossed. We love the little guy and he continues to be super sweet and happy go lucky.

I will try and keep posting more often, but the never ending cleaning of the house each and every day, work full time, and an 18 month old curious little boy keeps me pretty busy. Love you guys!

The good ole' days

2008-03-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

The day care did pictures about a month ago for everyone that came that day. There was no obligation to purchase anything, but they had a photographer come in and do all the kids. We couldn't resist getting some of Dillan since he is so dang cute! Here are a few that turned out pretty well.

Exciting News!

2008-02-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would get a post up about the job situation. We found out last week that Jeremy was still being considered and was asked to do a presentation for some people in the company to assess his presentation skills (that will be 25% of the job). He did his presentation on how to build a paper airplane and everyone thought it was great and they all had fun. On Friday we found out that he was one of 2 people considered still after that round. We really had a hard time not getting our hopes up. Good news is that Monday morning he was offered the job and we accepted! We are going back to Logan. It is crazy to think about, but we are really happy. It just seems silly to move to Ogden, buy a house, and then 9 months later, sell the house and move back to where we came from. The only thing is that we thought we would be here for a while. We didn't expect anything like this to come our way, so how could we have known? Here is a great picture of the airplane Jeremy taught them to make.

Now for some random updates on Dillan. We have had a rough week. Dillan started throwing up Friday night. We thought it was a 24 hour bug because there was no fever, normal diapers, and he was keeping down fluids just not solids. We switched him to a liquid diet for 48 hours and Sunday night he did actually start eating solids a little, and kept them down. But, Saturday night he woke up in the middle of the night with a high fever and his voice was hoarse. By Sunday afternoon we had a horrible cough along with it. We put him to bed Sunday night and he woke up at midnight crying and coughing. I was up all night with him. Luckily he slept in my arms, but if I tried to be anywhere but the glider he whined. Long night for Mama.

We took him to Kids Care (his doctor was the one on call that night so we were lucky) and they suctioned his nose out, tested him for RSV, and did all sorts of things to him. Diagnosis is that he has bronchialitis...which, fun for us take 7 - 10 days to get over. It is bitter sweet to not have to go to work for an entire week, but my heart breaks for him. Every time he coughs he whines because it hurts. They gave us a prescription for a suction machine for his nose here at home. They are bringing it by this morning. On the bright side...he is cuddling like crazy which he never really did before. I enjoy that.

The day care did these cute tiles for the parents for valentines day. It is adorable. We really like the new day care a lot.

We got a annual pass to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. It is super affordable and we really enjoy being able to go for just an hour and not feeling bad about paying admission. We have gone several times already and Dillan really enjoys being able to roam and play as he pleases. I highly suggest it to anyone around the area. These are pictures of Jeremy as president in the oval office and Dillan on the big chess set.

This is documentation of the monthly ritual that is hair cuts for both boys. We do Dillan's and then bathe him and put him to bed and then Jeremy does his. They both need cuts every 4 - 6 weeks.

Dillan has learned how to drink out of a juice box! Straws in general now are easy for him. We had him almost completely switched to sippy cups and straws until he got sick this week. The day care helps out with that. They don't give him a bottle unless absolutely needed. He had been drinking out of a sippy cup really well since 7 months, but he wouldn't take anything except water out of it. We tried milk and juice and no luck. But the day care didn't give him an option so he transistioned fast.

And last but certainly not least...these are funny pictures of him chillin' in his pool/hot tub float. He was watching Baby Einstein and having a great time. Really cute!

Giggles and Feet

2008-01-28T17:46:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have done an update. Sorry about that. Lots of things are going on. Jeremy and I both applied for new jobs, church stuff, and current jobs, not to mention Dillan on top of that keeps us busy. I didn't get the job I applied for, but we think it was a good thing. I, personally, think that there was a deeper reason I didn't get it. We are hoping that Jeremy gets the job he applied for. It would allow me to quit and stay home in the next year and it would include benefits. He likes the current job, but the pay isn't great and there are no benefits. But it gave him some experience, which is all we were looking for at the time he graduated. The only catch to the new job, if he gets it, is that we would be moving back to Logan! We are really excited about it. We love Logan and would not mind one bit moving back there. We will keep you updated. He is applying all over the place.

On to more important things... Dillan is finally takinggreat strides in walking. It is about time! After 6 months of walking around furniture you would think it was about time. So, that is excellent! We are so excited.

I decided that I would try and feed him peas for lunch. Try being the key word. Dillan hated the baby food peas. He literally would spit them out at you. The faces he would make were great. That was the only thing that we couldn't get him to eat. People kept telling me to try actual peas a little later and sure enough, he gobbled them right up. It was kind of funny. So, there isn't a single thing he won't eat. He eats everything I hate! I call him my little garbage disposal. Back to the peas though. The funniest part of the whole thing was that toward the end he decided that it was just easier to tip to cup into his mouth instead of using his fingers...faster rate of dispersion. You can see it in the video.

Then he got an early bath because we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. I was in the other room and Jeremy got bath duty. I could just hear Dillan laughing his head off. I came in with the camera to catch it. Jeremy would pretend to sneeze and Dill would crack up. Too funny!

We also went to DI today looking for Duplo blocks. They are pricey at walmart so I figured I would try and get some second hand. They didn't have any, but they had this great xylophone. I got one of my old mallets out and cut it down to his size. It works great. What better can you do for a buck at DI?

Another bit of cheap entertainment is the bathroom cupboards. We only keep towels and toilet paper under there so no worries. He loves crawling in and out. He must think it is his secret hide out or something. If he disappears I know where I will look first I guess.

Jeremy was not keen on the idea of this at first, but he is warming up to it. I bought Dillan a baby. It is dressed in blue so it isn't super girly. All boys should have a baby. How else will he learn to take care of his little siblings? He loves it too. If you hand it to him he gives it a big hug. Now even Jeremy will play with the baby with Dillan. They are both good dads.

The sirens are blaring!

2007-12-31T09:28:00.000-08:00

When we got back to Ogden on Saturday evening our neighbor brought us a package that had arrived while we were gone. I ordered Dillan a Little Tykes Police Car about 2 weeks ago with some reward points that I earned from DirecTV. We put it together on Sunday afternoon and man is it a big hit will Dill. He played with it all afternoon/evening, and then all this morning as well. When Jeremy said goodbye to Dillan this morning he had to kiss him through the car window. He is obsessed with it! And like every boy known to man he has already done things in it that he shouldn't and tipped it over a few times. Not too shabby for a free car! Thank you DirecTV.

The longest post ever!

2007-12-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

Now that the holidays are winding down I am getting a chance to sit down at the computer and actually put together a post of what happened the last week and a half. It has been a busy week with the holidays and Dillan's birthday all at once.

We spent the week at my mom's house in Sandy. My sister Sarah, Ramiro, and Gillian were there all week as well. It was fun to see how Dillan and Gillian interacted with each other. She is almost 7 months older than Dill and she teaches him a lot. The deal this week was that she would teach him to walk and he would teach her to do the stairs (up and down). He did his end of the bargain, but he isn't walking so I guess they spent too much time on the stairs. He did take a few steps each day on his own, but he is chicken to do any more than that. He is now walking long distances with you holding only one hand though. He will also push anything he can around the house.

We spent the 23rd downtown looking at the lights. I, unfortunately, didn't get anything but this picture of the temple. I didn't think about it until we were ready to leave. But, it is a great picture if I do say so myself. We met my brother Jared, Peggy, and Iris down there as well. Iris (3) gave us a great rendition of This Little Light of Mine while we walked. We saw the sister missionary choir, saw the "Holy Cow" according to Iris, and enjoyed the lights.

Monday night, though it was Christmas Eve, was spent watching the Chargers/Broncos game. It was intense only because Jeremy and Ramiro are avid football fans and of course on opposing sides for this game. Gillie even sported her own LT jersey along with her papa. Jeremy stood strong on wearing his Bronco gear (despite the teasing that he should change shirts at half time). Go Chargers!!!

Christmas was great. We got up and opened stockings and made avbelskivers and butterscotch balls for breakfast. We opened presents once every one else got up. Dillan doesn't quite get it yet. He rips the paper, but in little pieces and then just wants to play with it. Good thing we only got him a stocking (socks, onesies, bath toys, a ball, and shoes) and one big present. We have learned that putting together presents the night before is best. You would not believe the assembly required on some things. Dillan got a jumping zebra, which he loves and will grow into for more fun, a firetruck, and a ride-on zebra (coincidence that they are both zebras). He had a great Christmas. Jeremy got a Zune and a new car stereo. I got a new XM radio and a fabulous shopping spree Dillan free!

We spent the next few days playing and shopping and seeing family. Wednesday night we all got together at my brother Aaron's and he and Jenn made a great dinner for all of us. My uncle Tom and Ruben were even in town from Brazil. Everyone was there and it was loud, but good.

Friday was the big day! Dillan is now a one year old little boy. We made arrangements for all the grandkids to meet downtown at the Children's Museum. It was a lot of fun. It was really busy but everyone had a good time. We will definitely go back once school is back in. Dillan got a little people garage, and some cool pjs for his birthday. Thanks Sarah and Ramiro...Dill loves them and is wearing them as we speak.

Instead of making a cake for his birthday we made cupcakes. He had one a few weeks back at cousin Emmitt's party but we scrapped the frosting off first. We gave it to him, sprinkles and all, for his big day. He loved it! By the time he was done there was cake everywhere and frosting all over his cute little face. He washed it all down with a lot of water from his cup.

We came back home Saturday evening and we are glad to be home. We love the holidays because we get to see people we don't see very often and get to play like crazy. It will be nice to get back to a normal routine again. Merry Christmas and Happy New year to everyone! We love you guys and all that you do for us.

Pudding and Trucks to name a few...

2007-12-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

Dillan really likes pudding now. He doesn't descriminate either, he likes both vanilla and chocolate. I intoduced him to vanilla last week in hopes that he would only eat some of it and I could finish the rest of the cup...to my demise, he loves it and I did not get even one little bite. Too bad for momma. He seems to have a hefty appetite, but we don't know where he puts it all because he is a little peanut. I fed him chocolate pudding yesterday with animal crackers for an afternoon snack. He liked that as well.

He has also found a new toy that he REALLY likes. Daddy won't let him play with it all the time though and that makes Dillan sad. :( Jeremy got a remote control car for christmas a few years back and it has become a hit with Dillan. He doesn't like it when you actually turn it on and move it though. He just likes to push it around. The noise and movement when it is on scares him. Jeremy keeps it in the laundry room with the door shut.

I was doing laundry the other day and didn't get the door shut all the way. I was folding clothes in the family room and Dill had disappeared for a bit and I could hear him laughing so I knew he was close and having a good time. I figured he was under the table or something. Well, after a minute or two of non stop laughter I had to see what was so amusing. I got up and called his name and followed the laughing. I found him in the laundry room pushing the car back and forth between the wall and the dryer and Dillan just giggling away! It was really funny.

I pulled it out the other day and let him play supervised for a little bit and he had a blast, and in turn, cried when I put it away. Now, any time you are in the laundry room you can hear him bolt for the car and giggle. It is too cute.

Cuck Coo

2007-12-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

This...

Plus this...

Equals this...

You have to turn the volume up.

Family Picture Time

2007-12-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

We had a first real family picture session today. It turned out pretty well. I hate the way that I look in the family pics, but oh well. Dillan's turned out awesome and he was a great sport. He is a one take wonder. Other people seemed to be amazed at how good he was and smiled on cue. What can I say? He is a perfect little boy!

We got something to eat afterwards at one of our favorite places, Dylan's. They spell it wrong, but the food is good anyway. Jeremy was up at the register and could hear the cooks in the back talking about a cute little boy with red hair up front (all in Spanish). It is amazing how much you get to listen in on in Ogden when you speak Spanish. Enjoy the pictures!

It is officially Winter

2007-12-03T15:15:00.000-08:00

It finally snowed here in Utah! It started late this year. Dillan has never had the experience of snow when he could actually realize there was something different about the grass out front.

Funny story from this morning...

Dillan and I were going to meet Jeremy for lunch, and since we were a few minutes early, before I put him in the car I let him touch the snow with his hands. He reached down to touch the grass at the edge of the driveway and felt the cold snow and immediately jerked his hand back to his chest. He then decided he would try it again and put his whole hand into the snow and again immediatly jerked it back to his chest, looked at me, and started to cry. I picked him up and wiped his hands with his blanket. I guess he doesn't like snow....yet.

We also went on a walk to the care center down the street this week. We had a couple of model cars to drop off. They were requesting crafts and decorations. By the way, if you are throwing anything out or going to DI, please think of the elderly center next to us. They are redecorating the entire building and can use anything from decorations to furniture. Dillan got all bundled up in his coat, hat, and mittens and we went for a walk.

Everyone at the nursing home loved him of course. No one can get over his red hair. I do have to admit that he is one super cute little kid and Jeremy and I are worried that whenever we have more they won't be as cute. In Jeremy's words, "Even a 50% ugly baby is still pretty ugly." We fear all the cute genes have been used on Dill and there isn't anything left!

On another note....Dillan likes toothpaste. We were getting ready for church on Sunday morning and he was dressed and ready to go. Jeremy and I were just finishing up some last minute things like makeup and a tie. Dillan was crawling around the floor, like normal, exploring whatever he could. We found him a few minutes later chewing on the toothpaste tube and he figured out how to get the flip top off of it and well....check the picture out! He thought it was great. Even after we fought it away from him he kept smaking his lips in enjoyment. It was pretty funny.

Dillan's new favorite past time is getting into things he knows he shouldn't. We put locks on the cabinets and lower drawers. He thinks it is great when he can actually get into something and if for some reason there is a lock on the cabinet...it doesn't matter! That is when it gets really fun because it makes tons of noise!!!

Master of the Stairs

2007-11-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

Dillan has mastered the stairs finally! He can go up and down and thinks that it is great. We still keep the gate up at the top and the toy chest at the bottom because even though he has figured it out, we still think he isn't allowed to play on the stairs by himself.

Petting Farm

2007-11-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

While we were in Zions the local town of Springdale had a petting farm. I always thought they were petting zoos, but this one was definitely a farm and labelled as such. Dillan thought the animals were cool and you could even feed the buffalo!

Zions

2007-11-13T08:52:00.001-08:00

The Carling side of the family takes an annual family outing once a year over UEA weekend. We try to meet somewhere in the middle of San Diego and Salt Lake City so that not everyone has to go too far. This year we went to Zions National Park. It was a lot of fun and we all got some good exercise.

The leaves were changing colors and it made the hikes absolutely beautiful. We hiked to the opening of The Narrows, Emerald Pools, and the brave boys made it back from Angel's Landing without falling off!

Dillan fell asleep in the backpack that Uncle Paul was carrying since Jeremy went to Angel's Landing. I ended up pushing Bradley in Dillan's stroller since both Aaron and Jenn went as well. It was a great trip and we had good food and a overall good time.

Congrats to the Red Sox!

2007-11-13T08:44:00.000-08:00

I will probably get murdered by Ramiro for doing this, but Clint bought Dillan a Red Sox outfit when he was born and since the Padres didn't make it to the World Series we have to sport the winning team for Clint. So here we go!

I sent a picture to Jeremy on his phone and he responded by saying, "He sure is a cute little traitor!" Isn't that the truth. Jeremy is a Rockies fan since he is from Colorado...so really, Dillan isn't following either one of our footsteps right now.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

Halloween was pretty peaceful for us. The monkey got dressed up and we visited the grandparents in North Ogden and then my boss. Everyone loved his costume. He was the cutest little monkey ever. It was good to have everyone together since I had been away at Wood Badge the previous weekend and went back on November 1st. The weekend before halloween we went to Zions and had a lot of fun/exercise. These pictures are all from that trip. We dressed Dillan up one night and went trick-or-treating to the rest of the family to show him off.

What a week!

2007-10-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

My goodness, I don't ever want to go through another week like last week again! Dillan started to get sick on Sunday with a cold and slight fever. We pretty much just gave him tylenol and cold medicine and knew we could get through it. He picked it up from the sitter's house and the other kids.

Monday we attempted to celebrate Jeremy's birthday since we knew I had to work on Wednesday. He got a new skateboard though it rained that day and he didn't get to really use it. What a bummer! Dillan was still feeling yucky though he was a good sport as we drove around doing errands but by the evening was miserable. We checked his temperature again and it was over 103. When we called the doctor they wanted us to bring him in just in case. It ended up being just a really bad cold with a fever attached and we just needed to continue what we were doing. I started to not feel the greatest on Monday night.

Tuesday I decided to stay home from work to be with Dillan since his fever was still over 100. Jeremy did come home for a couple hours so that I could run into work to attend staff meeting where they announced me as a new TL! Yah, I am finally getting paid for the job I have been doing for months. But that is when the abdominal craps started. By Tuesday evening I felt horrible. Needless to say I was already spending a fair amount of time in the bathroom since Monday night. I didn't sleep or eat anything past staff meeting Tuesday afternoon. I figured I would be fine the next day and I could go back to work.

Wednesday was Jeremy's birthday and I was completely miserable. I didn't sleep or eat the night before and now not only was I going to the bathroom all the time, I was nauseous as well. Of course, I had not eaten anything in quite some time so instead of just throwing up, I would just go gag and nothing would come out. It was bad. Dillan was still running a slight temperature, but was feeling much better. You could tell because he had started to eat a little solid food again and would play on the floor and crawl around more like normal. Meanwhile, Jeremy is at work miserable because he develops a migraine. Happy Birthday to you! He managed to come home feeling okay, but not great. I felt so bad and the cramping had been going on for more than 24 hours now that I had him take me to instacare since we don't have a regular doctor in Ogden yet. They thought it was just a severe stomach virus and the bad news was that it would take at least 5 - 7 days to get over. We went from instacare to his parents for dinner, which I didn't eat...but Jeremy and Dillan loved. Since Dillan was feeling better he was crawling around the floor and came across somerat poison. We are sure where he found it, but his grandpa had put some out a couple days before but those peices were still where he put them. We don't know. We called poison control and they told us we needed Dillan's blood drawn to test his coagulating factor since the poison works like a blood thinner. So we made our way to the ER since they are the only facility that has a lab that can do the work as quickly as we needed it and it was already after 8pm. The ER is a story in itself. They got us in really fast and we thought that was great and we would be home soon, but then we realized that was not true. Dillan had to have his blood taken(have his heel pricked and milked basically). That was the easy part. He also had to drink charcoal to make sure that if he did ingest any rat poison that it wouldn't absorb into his blood. They mixed it with chocolate milk, but he would only drink an ounce. They decided that they would have to pump it into his stomach via tube through his nose. Three nurses tried to put the tube in several times. After the 4th try the gave up and called the NICU nurses to come do it. Dillan was highly upset by this time. The NICU brought a smaller tube and had a different approach which worked the first time thankfully. But, because the tube was smaller they had to dilute the charcoal with milk again in order to get it to go through. It was a black mess! Once that was done we thought we could leave, but no, they had to make sure he wasn't going to throw it up and wait for the blood tests. We got home around 1am.

Wedndesy night going into Thursday now...I started to develop blood when I went to the bathroom. Keep in mind, I still haven't slept of eaten anything since Tuesday at lunch, so all that isis coming out is blood really. I was feeling even worse...if that is possible. Thursday morning I went back to instacare for the blood concern. Now they are thinking that it is diverticulitis. UGH! I am too young for that. The best part is, they gave me a medication to help the nausea and vomitting, but one of the possible side effects on the warnings was nausea and vomitting! ARGH!!! I think it made me more sick so I stopped taking that, but continued to take the cramping medication and started taking an antibiotic. They never would give me anything for the paid (which was way worse than labor might I add). I wanted to just die. Jeremy thankfully stayed home from work to help with Dillan since I didn't do anything but moan and stay in the bathroom. Thursday evening Jeremy took Dillan back to the ER to have the 2nd blood test done. This time it only took 3 hours!

Friday my mom had the day off of work and volunteered to let us come to her house so that she could watch Dillan and help out with me while Jeremy worked from home for a few hours. Remember, I haven't slept or eaten anything still. So we go down there and Jeremy got in about a half day. I finally was able to get about an hour nap in on Friday afternoon. Still no food, but at least I slept. Then magically, late Friday evening I felt I was hungry. I had an egg and a small peice of toast which tasted so good after not eating all week. But, I shouldn't have done that because it made me feel horrible all over again! I took a pain killer and all my medication and fell asleep on the couch watching TV. I actually slept for a few hours. It was amazing.

Saturday I actually felt like eating breakfast. I started out slow because I didn't want the same thing to happen as Friday night. But I felt better. Amazingly, I was able to eat that and lunch. I even got up and showered and put on clean clothes. I was incredily weak and tired, but at least I was not gagging and in the bathroom constantly...frequently, but not constantly. Dillan and Jeremy made their last trip to the ER that morning for the last of the blood tests. Everything came out fine and it doesn't look like he ate any of the poison. My brother and his wife volunteered to take Dillan Saturday night and that gave us the night off.

Jeremy and I both slept in Sunday morning. I made it through the entire night! Dillan had a great time with his cousins and that gave us the chance to take a breather and regain some strenght. We spent Sunday afternoon at the Haddocks's in Ogden for dinner and family. Dillan still had a runny nose but it back to his chattery, crawling self again. I was feeling much better but get tired very easily. Luckily I have Monday off to get one more day before I head back to work.

Problem Solved

2007-09-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

Dillan has been climbing the stairs now for a few weeks. We have a gate at the top of the stairs, but he has decided that he just likes to play on the stairs and he can't climb down them yet. Jeremy put a chair at the bottom of the stairs to detour Dillan from climbing them. It worked for a few days but then we had a problem. Dillan has figured out that just because something large is in the way doesn't mean you can't go through it. He crawls through the smallest spaces now. Jeremy had put the chair down and a little while later he heard patting on the stairs. He jumped up and realized that Dillan had crawled through the legs of the chair and was already a few stairs up happily playing. Now the toy chest stays at the bottom of the stairs. No holes in that!

Stairs

2007-08-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

Dillan has successfully climbed an entire flight of stairs by himself now. Last night he decided that he would go to the bathroom for his bath all by himself. It took him about 5 minutes, but he got all the way up there.

He hasn't grasped the concept of getting down so one of us has to follow him all the way up to make sure he doesn't topple down. We get enough bumps from the coffee table downstairs and don't need any more.

The second tooth is coming in as well. It makes for a grumpy baby, but his little smile is going to be so cute with those two bottom teeth! If you thought it was cute before...just wait.

Mozart and the Monkey

2007-08-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

This is little Mozart, aka the Monkey. A few weeks ago Dillan decided that he wanted to play the piano like Mommy. The story goes a little something like this....

For months now, Dillan enjoys sitting on the floor and listening to the piano. It magically calms him down. So whenever he gets fussy and nothing else works Mommy sits at the piano and plays (and sometimes sings) for him. He loves primary songs! He will happily play on the floor or in the exersaucer next to the piano for a long time. One day Mommy was singing for him and she noticed that he was sqwealing all through the song. When the song ended he looked up at her and smiled. Mommy thought this was interesting so she hit a key on the piano and he screeched in pitch. Not wanting to jump to conclusions she hit a different key and again he screeched in pitch with that key. He did this 4 times in a row. The Monkey is only 7 months old so Mommy thought this was amazing!

Now, Mommy picks Dillan up and sits him on her lap at the piano and he loves to hit the keys and make "music." Daddy even caught the monkey standing up in front of the piano reaching for the keys because no one would let him sit on their lap. So this morning Mommy pushed the bench in and sat Dillan by himself to play while she supervised and he loved it! If you walk over by the piano for any purpose he will reach for it. It is really cute! Maybe we will actually have a musician on our hands. Mommy sure hopes so.

Razor Sharp

2007-08-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

This is a monkey update. The monkey has his first tooth now! It popped through some time in the last 24 hours or so. You can feel it with your finger and barely see it. It is pretty sharp too! So we only have to go through the whining, grumpy, crying Dillan for lets say another 30 times or so and they we will have a full mouth! Woo Hoo!

Sprinklers

2007-08-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

I had a funny experience this morning that I thought I would share. Dillan and I had taken a shower and he was sitting on the floor in a towel while I dried off and put some clothes on. He wriggled out of the towel and crawled over to the bath tub and pulled himself up. He accomplishes that quite often so I thought nothing of it. I finished putting my bra on and went to go pick him up to put a diaper and clothes on him before I finished with myself. When I went to pick him up I realized that the floor was completely soaked! It was really gross. He had taken it upon himself to pee all over the side of the tub and the floor. Hilarious, but gross! He was proud of himself none the less and yet again after he went down for a nap I spent some time cleaning up from him. Oh the joys of motherhood!