I set up my drums for the first time in two years and Dylan decided he wanted to have a go as well. Surprisingly good for a two year old. Here are the pics and vids from our performance.

- Colin

(Colin is making a funny face but it's still a cute picture!)

In the past few days, Dylan has learned a few new games. The first one was pretty amazing to me: he started to pretend! Two days ago, he was running around the house saying, "Car, Mommy! Vroom!" When I asked him if he was a car, he nodded. Ever since then, he runs around periodically throughout the day pretending he's a car. He even has crashes and says, "Boom!" Obviously, that was learned from Daddy's video games! :) The other new game we've been playing is Follow the Leader. Actually, it's more like Simon Says but I don't think he would get the rules of Simon Says. So we sit together and say "Clap your hands!" and everyone claps. Or whatever else we think of: cover your eyes, wiggle your ears, touch your toes, etc. Dylan enjoys being the leader, too! He loves doing something and having Mommy and Daddy copy him. His other favorite game is a long standing one: running. There's something about running that this kid loves. When we are outside, he'll run back and forth and say, "Running, Mommy! Running!"

We've also been working on learning the sounds that letters make. I haven't been necessarily teaching the ABCs in order but he'll bring me a magnet letter from the fridge and show it to me so I can tell him what it is. It goes something like this:
Dylan: "MOMMY!" and opens his hand
Mommy: "That's a P. P says pah, pah"
Dylan: "Pah, pah."
Then he goes and gets all the other P's off the fridge and tells me that they all say pah.

Dylan has also been telling me that he's running away to Grandma's house because she has a truck. It goes like this:
Dylan: "Bye, bye Mommy," while carrying his snuggle shirt, my purse, his favorite toy, etc.
Mommy: "Where are you going, Dylan?"
Dylan: "Gamma (translation: Grandma)... truck... bye, bye"
Mommy: "You're running away to Grandma's because she has a truck?"
Dylan: "Uh huh! Bye, bye. Truck!"
That's right, Mommy has been demoted because Grandma has a truck!

We've changed Dylan's crib to a toddler bed. It's been going pretty well. It's actually been a lot easier than I was expecting. He lays down pretty easily but will cry for a few minutes. It's getting better though. Hopefully, he'll be in his big boy bed by the end of the month. :) My baby's getting so big!!

Well, that's all I can think of for now.

We went to the midwife today for my gestational diabetes test and she told me that we only have 10 more weeks until the baby is due! It seemed like we had so much longer before the baby comes. We have so much to do, like putting together the swing and other baby stuff, buying batteries, getting a new dresser, getting Dylan into his big boy bed, getting my diaper stash and the few things we need, washing all the baby clothes.... I could go on and on but I'll stop now before I go into a nesting panic. But I'm so excited that we are going to meet the baby soon!

On a similar but slightly different note, last night Dylan and I were playing in the living room, with him sitting on my lap. The baby started kicking Dylan and he got this look on his face that was something like amazement mixed with annoyance. He pulled my shirt up on my belly; put both hands on my belly, rubbing them back and forth; and said,"Brother!" Well, it sounded more like "bratha." So cute!

Ok so we FINALLY got a new camera! The old one has been acting up for a long time now. Here are a few pictures from the new camera!


This is the face Dylan makes at me all day.



Aw!!! That's my baby! He's just about the cutest kid in the whole world!



Colin is soooo tired! He looks so cute!



28 weeks pregnant! 12 weeks left!

Caylin sent me some pictures she had of our wedding. I'm so glad to finally have decent pictures! Here are a few of them.

First of all, I want to apologize for the current lack of pictures. When I turned on my camera last night to take a picture of the tree with all of Dylan's presents next to it, the camera wouldn't respond. We tried changing the batteries and that didn't help. The only thing we didn't do was bang it on the tile but I figured that would probably do more harm than good.

Christmas started yesterday when my parents, step-brother and his wife and my step-sister and her husband and my great grandfather came over for Christmas Eve dinner. After dinner, my parents gave Dylan his big Christmas present: a Radio Flyer WAGON! After we put it together, we took Dylan for a ride in the wagon.

This morning, Dylan woke up trying to reach his stocking and crying for the tube of tennis balls sticking out the top. Daddy went to get him and brought Dylan and the stocking into our bed. He loved the cars and trucks he pulled out, ignored the stuffed balls and danced for his red fake crocs.

After playing with the cars for a while, we came downstairs. He saw his easel and his wagon filled with toys. He was really excited for the easel until we offered to let him open his other gifts. He loved his Mr. Potato Head; his new train set; the mini sports balls (esp. the football); the puzzle of cars, trucks, trains, planes and boats; his bang a ball with a hammer toy; chalk; and markers. Whenever he opened a gift of clothing, he would put it directly on my lap and open a new present.

When Nana and Grandad got here this afternoon, they brought Dylan a BIG WHEELS! They also brought two airplanes, clothes, and some other things I may have missed. Colin and Grandad had a bit of a challenge putting together the Big Wheels. They should really make better directions for these things. Auntie Catherine and Uncle John sent Dylan a stuffed elephant and didn't forget Dylan's baby brother with an adorable outfit! Can't wait to see him in the dino hat.

Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for the wagon and the new clothes. Thanks to Auntie for Dylan's new wardrobe (SUPER CUTE!!), the yummy snacks for Mommy and Daddy. Thank you to both Auntie and Grandpa Joe for the funds to get Dylan's new passes to the Wild Animal Park/ Zoo. Thank you Nana and Grandad for all Dylan's gifts, my sewing stuff and canisters and Colin's sweater, slippers and mouse. Thank you Catherine and John for the stuffed snuggly elephant, Baby's clothes, and my new pot holders (I've already used them!!) and napkins. If I've forgotten anything, I'm so sorry. It was and is appreciated. I'm just feeling a bit worn out from all the excitement.


WOOHOO! We finally got pictures from Nana and Grandad! There isn't many but here's what we have!

We had our big sonogram today. They check the baby's organs, length, weight, gender, etc. Since I know it will be everyone's first question, IT'S A BOY! That's right, we are welcoming another little boy to our family! We are very excited. To answer the next question, no we don't have any names picked out. We are planning on leaving it be just like we did with Dylan Caden.

Based on the baby's measurements, he's measuring a little bigger than he should. Almost a week bigger. The ultrasound tech. suggested that we will probably be having another big boy. Currently, he's about 10.6 inches long halfway through the pregnancy.

We see our midwife again in about 2 weeks but everything looks good so far! He's starting to move around a lot more, esp. around 7 at night.

Here are the pictures:


This is the baby's profile to the right side of the photo and his abdomen to the left. You can see his spine along the bottom.



The red is the blood going out of the heart and the blue is the blood coming in.



And here's the proof that he's a boy. The arrow is pointing to his genitals.



I'm pretty sure this is the baby's face toward us. The hole looking thing is the ear, I believe.



Here are the baby's toes. They are the whitest area on the left side.



Here is the bottom of his foot.


I hope you all enjoy the photos!

We decided to change to a midwife so we can have a home birth. We decided to go with a team of two midwives. Their website is http://www.sandiegomidwife.com/

Feel free to take a look at the website. We'll let you know how it goes!

Well, we finally went to the OB. He was wonderful! We are really excited to be delivering with him, even though the drive is super super long from Temecula to Encinitas. Anyway, he said that the due date is in the middle of April, that everything looks great, etc. We go back in another month for another check up. I'll be posting some belly pictures as soon as I don't just look kinda chubby. ;)

While we were in MD, Grandma got a new puppy. She is sooo cute and sweet. I named her Muffin, although there is some contention to the name. Dylan loved her, too. She was just the right size to be picked up and carried around and sweet enough not to get feisty about it. Ever since Muffin went home, Dylan has been trying to pick Rosie up. Needless to say, she's a little bit big for that now!

Well, our vacation was SUPER stressful. I got really sick on the way there; Dylan got really sick right before we left; and a tree fell on the house, knocking out the power and the water to the house. Through it all, we had fun though. We spent a lot of time doing little things as we felt up to them and, of course, hanging out with Em, Ava and their family. We did get to do a few fun things, too. We went to the aquarium in Baltimore, DC, Easton and St Michaels (I think that's what it is called), saw some of Penn. Here are a few pictures from our trip: