Terrible Twos

A few weeks ago Rick had to go to Fresno for work, so we decided to come along for the ride. It was pretty fun, the kids did really well in the car, we stopped a lot so that helped. Everything was going pretty smoothly until he had a meeting to go to and decided to drop us off at the park until it was over. Dylan decided to have a complete meltdown because I wouldn't let him stand out in the middle of the skate park while millions of teenage boys jumped rails and flipped over curbs and stuff. Oh yeah, it was extra fun when I had to run out, infant in hand to retrieve him when he got up and bolted to the middle of the ramps and stuff while I was breastfeeding Marley and couldn't jump up immediately to stop him...clever little devil. Pretty sure I was extra cool when he kept running away from me, laughing in the 105 degree weather so I'm getting hot and sweaty and ready to beat my child.I finally got him with the help of a "skater boy" (the only one not shooting me dirtly looks for allowing my toddler to ruin their sweet you tube videos of their killer moves) and dragged him back to the picnic tables where he decided to roll in the dirt, kicking and screaming for over an HOUR and wouldn't let me touch him...so, what did I do? Well...first I videoed, then I took pictures. Did I mention the meeting went long and the park trip was 2 1/2 hours? Awesome.

Marley's Room

Here's a few pics of how Marley's room is comin' along. I'm not even close to done yet but here's the colors I'm workin' with...green (I love green) hot pink brown and white. I still have to make and put up her hot pink curtains, buy a rug, put up the white picket fence, hang the watering cans and flowers and put up the pails of grass. Little girl rooms are so much more fun to do than boys.Those bins on the left were supposed to go under the crib but...they barely wouldnt fit. Bummer. They'll probably end up in the closet. Gotta love that dollar bin at Target though.

These pics are kinda old, I took them when Mar was only about a week old. Luckily I had gone out and bought all the stuff the day before I went into labor. Here's a close up of her bedding that I got an AWESOME deal on at Target. I found these pillows in the home decor section and fell in love with them. You can't really tell in the pic but they are sewn all sloppy stitch with fat thread. So they look kinda like a little kid made them.
It came with different sheets but I didn't like them as much so I found these hot pink polka dot sheets and also some brown polka dot sheets in a different aisle and grabbed them.
Anyways...I promise I'll post with more recent pics soon. Life has been crazy, as usual and I need to get my camera cleared out so...I thought I'd post these to hold you over.

Say Cheese!!

Yesterday Marley had a little photo shoot with Grandpa Dalton. She's almost four weeks old, I can't believe it! Here's a few cute ones...keep in mind he hasn't touched these up yet.

















too bad she spit up in this one, I love the angle!

had to get at least one bare bum shot in there, gotta love those little buns!

one of my definite fav times caught on film...when she's sleeping! Thanks Grandpa Dalton...we love you!

Miss Marley Marie

Okay...let me first start with a preggo pic since everyone was dying for me to post a bloated fat pic of myself throughout the pregnancy and I never did. Here I am large and in charge about 3-4 days before I went into labor. (taken at our new house)





Then we went to the Redlands temple one last time the night before I went into labor. I started having minor contractions during the session...

Here's Rick doin' what he did through most of the labor. He was there for the hard part and for the part that really mattered, but otherwise he was out cold. He even missed my water breaking! Which was so loud it woke my mom out of a deep sleep...it sounded like someone threw a huge water balloon up in the air and let it come crashing down.

This is the first time I saw her...right after delivery.


Here she is right after they cleaned her up. She was 6 lbs. 11 oz, 19.5 in. long. She was born August 21st at 2:47 a.m.















The proud Papa.



Chillin' in "the bucket"

A few family shots...as you can tell by the ONE with Dyl...he wasn't really feelin' it today. So we shot a couple without him.


Dyl was very excited to meet his new sister. When we held him up to look into her little bucket-bed the first thing he said was "Oh...gosh!" It was hilarious, we luckily got it on video. Then he insisted on holding her "hicks, hicks" which for whatever reason has always been what he says when he wants us to pick him up...so we let him hold her and he kept giving her kisses. Love at first sight.
Still at the hospital...with the puffy face. We ended up staying only a day and a half...she came at about ten to three in the am...so we stayed one more night and left the next afternoon.
Dylan loves to "help" with Marley...we have to keep a close eye on him. He especially loves to work the swing. I can tell already that they're gonna be buds.




We'll end with my favorite pic...this one looks the most like her...you know when you take a bunch of pics of a new baby and half of them look like a completely different kid? Well, this pic is definitely our little Marley.

So Big!

As Dylan nears the big number two we've noticed a slight shadow on his lower chin...so...it was time to break out the shaving cream. Okay...just look at his face and you will know just how big he thinks he is. Dyl cracks me up, he has to do whatever his dad is doing. I just love this age!

He held perfectly still the whole time Rick smeared the cream on his face.
I love how this pic shows how skinny his little waist is. He thought he was so cool when he realized his towel matched Rick's. Usually he freaks if I use a towel anywhere near him, if he had it his way he's air dry after every bath...but this time he couldn't wait for me to tie it around his waist while he looked for his razor on the counter.
Not the happiest face ever but the camera was getting foggy so I had to get what I could and get out. He was a little upset here because I was making him wipe it off (his sensitive skin reacts to stuff so quickly)...anyways...he still had fun being big like dad for a little while.

I'm lame, I know

Okay it's been ridiculously long since I last posted...but boy have we been busy! I swear I have a few pics of the Dyl but have yet to be organized enough to get them posted...my apologies. I will TRY to put them up after this post. I promise. Everyone wants an update on where the heck I disappeared to for the past almost two months so...here goes:
We FINALLY closed on the house, WAY later then expected (I think about a month or so). To make a long story short it was a very stressful closing and we had to get carpet laid before they would let it be officially livable (but who wants to lay brand new carpet BEFORE they paint, right?) So we snuck in to paint first and luckily the woman before us had decided wallpaper was definitely the way to go so first we got to strip a million pounds of wallpaper (still not done yet!) and paint as quickly as we could before the carpet layers came the next day. Then we had to get it appraised in time or else the deadline would not be met and they could back out of the deal...with our upgraded carpet and paint job. Needless to say we spent many late backbreaking hours getting it done and the loan went through. Now we just need to get the downstairs flooring taken care of so we can get our furniture sent down from our storage in Utah (which takes two weeks) which we want done before we leave for the Bahamas (which is in just a little over two weeks) so...the crunch time never ends.
Meanwhile Rick has been overwhelmed learning the ropes with his new job and trying to not get too far behind while trying to deal with the house mess and a pregnant raging wife who doesn't want to strip wallpaper anymore but has to because it's really the only thing she can do to contribute because she is pregnant. Somebody buy that boy some ice cream.
Dylan is loving not having our full and complete attention 24/7 as it enables him to get into anything and EVERYTHING he shouldn't. I never proudly announced that he is completely over his biting phase, has been for months and now doesn't even hit or push except for on rare occasion and usually only if instigated by the victim. I am a true believer in time out. I know that he's really technically too young for time-out but that's only if you want him to sit on a specific chair or something and really understand he's on timeout and that he did a no-no. If you're like me and are fine with just traumatizing your child for 30sec to a min (I swear that's all it takes) then just pick any room in the house (the safest most child proof would be my choice, after all, we're just traumatizing him...we don't want any serious injuries that require ER visits where we have to account for our bad parenting) and shut them in. I promise you it could be their most favorite room of the house with the most toys and as long as it's not their idea to be in there...it will do the trick. If you are as desperate as I was to end the bully baby syndrome, this took less then a week to enforce. Now all I have to do is ask if he wants timeout and he wises up immediately. I think it's the thought that everyone else is out playing and he's by himself that drives him crazy, but honestly, this punishment makes sense to me...you can't play nice with others so you have to be by yourself. The punishment fits the crime. Afterward we always open the door to his little tearful face and tell him why he was in there and ask him to say sorry and he always wants to hug you to show he truly is...it makes me sad to hear him cry but I can't argue the dramatic change it has brought. We no longer have to follow two steps behind him at the park or be on his back 24/7 when he's playing with his younger cousins. It's a miracle! Even if someone hits him or takes his toy away (nursery) he doesn't fight back anymore. Well, most of the time anyway. He did manage to back my grandmother's car down the long driveway into ours though...that was a lot of fun. Long story short you really can put a car in neutral even if it is turned off and in park...and if you are parked on a slight declined driveway your car will roll on it's own with your grinning toddler inside and no matter how hard your 80 yr old grandmother pushes it from behind as it almost rolls over the top of her while she's screaming to you who are inside (I swear doing something important), it will still continue to roll down the longer then necessary driveway and right into your car, which is thankfully parked at the end of the driveway, keeping your grandmothers vehicle from crossing the street and crashing through the neighbors living room.
Dyl's paragraph is so ridiculously long I'll just attempt to wrap this up here. Baby girl is growing right on schedule, she is just as busy as her brother was in the womb so you can imagine that combining that with insane heartburn makes for a really good night sleep. Big shout out and thank you to my ADORABLE beehives back in Michigan who sent me a beautiful blanket they made for our little one on the way. I loved the pictures you sent along with it and keep them in my wallet. As soon as Rick gets our scanner up and running I promise to scan the pic of you all holding it up and post it on here for everyone to be jealous. Today I get to go out to Upland to visit my dad in the hospital and hopefully take him home. He's been very sick for over a month now and has been in the hospital for over a week but even with all the antibiotics his fever keeps spiking and his head hurts and coughing and vomiting, etc continues. After a bunch of CT's and X-rays and blood work the docs are officially stumped and have agreed to let him go home with IV's and meds to let my mom take care of him till they figure it out. My dad wasn't made to stay in a hospital - he's done. So that took a lot of the time we didn't have this week. I was glad to get to go visit and sit with him to help pass time and take care of him when my mom wasn't available.
So yes, to answer the simple questions that didn't require all this other babbling, we are still living in Pasadena with my grandparents, still working on the Fon-tucky house and still trying to get this parenting thing figured out before our trouble doubles in August. I'm sure there's a million more things that have happened that I failed to mention but frankly this post is way too long, even I don't want to read it. SO...with that...take care all and let me know how YOU are.

The Name Game

Okay everyone...naming a baby is so hard! I think that girls are definitely the hardest (probably because I already had a boy and had a pretty good sized list going when I found out I was preggo again since I swore it was going to be baby boy #2.) The funny part is that when I found out I was preggo with Dyl I thought it was going to be a girl (I guess all I have to do is go with whichever my gut doesnt tell me it is!) and I had the LONGEST list of girls names, all of which I really really don't like anymore. I totally had the name picked out for this one if it were a boy, it's the name I voted for Dylan to be (Rick won that one obviously) and the name that our next baby boy definitely will be - Gavin. I just love that name! I always have but unfortunately it's not really one of those gender neutral names so I'll have to hold out. The only name so far that I even like a little bit is Marley (Marlee?) and I'm kinda on the fence with that one. Anyways...any help would be great! Thanks everyone! I have a list coming from my beehives in Michigan which I'll post for votes. The top name for Dyl was going to be Jenna...I'm just not crazy about it anymore but it doesn't totally bug me so I'll throw it back into the mix...if you all want to send your ideas I'll post a little poll just for fun (I guess more fun for me then you, most of you probably don't really care especially since half my friends are all preggo too and need to think up names of their own but for those of you who want to, send me any and all you like!) Okay...I'm gonna try to post some pics now - bye!

More Easter Fun

I mostly wanted to post this because I love this pic of the three cousins. Left to right it's Aisley Kay, Elly Jean and Dylan Richard. These were pics Megan took, I don't have my Easter pics downloaded yet but thought I'd at least put these two up.

Here is my masterful hiding job since I was on egg patrol this year. Laugh all you want to (everyone else did) but it WAS the last egg found! Booyah!

Ward Hunt - Upland style

Here's just a few quick pics of Dyl and his cousins at the ward egg hunt. Dylan was still trying to figure out the whole concept at this point. He finally got the hang of it near the end but the big kids were not shy to run up and grab an egg right as his fingers were about to touch it. If I didn't really want him to have candy I probably would have said something...he was just as happy with me taking them out of his basket and putting them on the ground for him to put back in the basket again. Here he is waiting in line for them to let the kids out to hunt.
Gotta love the truck basket I found on sale at Target. Not really Easter-y but, oh well!
After a few pointers from Dad he started catching on.
He and Ais decided to look out for each other and block the big kids while the other one filled up on eggs. The were cute to watch, Aisley would give Dyl an egg and they would both say "tay-too" then Dyl would hand it back to her and so on.

After it was finally over Dyl and Elly sat to compare their prizes and enjoy some yummy cookies. It was so cute, Dyl walked up and sat next to Elly on one of those cement things in the parking lot at the head of each space. Megan quickly snapped a pic while they sat and giggled together. It was a fun morning.

Oh yeah...

Sorry to keep everyone waiting! I finally got a chance to put some pics on Rick's comp so hopefully I can catch up a bit this week...Im tired and headin to bed but thought I would end the suspense that I'm sure you're all in...now you can all go back to eating and sleeping. I was trying to think of some cute way to tell but I'm outta ideas and short on time and just want the word out. Anyways...

Looks like most of you were truly inspired...I sure wasn't...I posted the first vote just for fun and mine was boy...so me and three others (I know Adri was one 'cause she fessed up) didn't see the pink comin'. Any name ideas would be most appreciated. Lets post a bunch just for fun, everyone can comment on how cute or lame they are - keep in mind our last name is Dalton and for tradition's sake the middle name will most likely be Marie (not my fav) unless something else is just so cute I can't pass it by. Goodnight all!

Little Fish

Dylan has really gotten into swimming lately and holds his breath really well. The second you even mention swimming he starts getting overly excited and searches for his swimsuit. The first 10-15 min or so he refuses to let his feet stay on the step any longer then .5 seconds which drives me crazy because I keep insisting he needs to stop and catch his breath between swims but he refuses. He was born for the water. He's gotten to the point now where he can swim a few feet by himself, he was even better about using his arms and legs and swimming horizontally but ever since we went in Nana's spa the past few times he can reach the bottom and has developed some bad habits. So, for the first few attempts here he keeps trying to put his feet on the bottom and then ends up doing more of a doggy paddle type swim. Anyways...here he is!

This next one is Dylan doing a belly flop. He just loves to climb up on the side of the spa and make a big splash.

No Time!

Sorry everyone that I have been the absolute most boring blogging buddy latelty but with the never ending, never fun house hunting going on I have had no time. Also, when I do post there's no pics because we still don't have our computer hooked up and I don't want to download my pics onto other peoples computers...I guess I'm just weird like that. Anyways...more soon to come I swear! P.S. I find out the day after Easter (Monday) whether number two is a boy or a girl...so...I'm gonna copy Adri and have anyone who's interested guess just for the heck of it. Hopefully this kids not shy!

My little angel

Okay...so Dylan has been into biting lately and it is driving me CRAZY...it didn't start until we came down here to Cali and for some reason it seems it's not going away any time soon. Everyone I talk to is like, "don't worry, my kid did that too and it only lasted for 2-3 wks" That's great and everything for all of you but we're going into our third MONTH here. What the heck? Poor Aisley gets the brunt of it but she's learning to defend herself better. Lately he's been hitting, pushing, scratching and pinching too. Now that the long awaited 18 months have passed and he is eligible for nursery...we get to go too since he's been so aggressive. Ugh...it used to only happen if he was attacked first...now he'll just walk by Aisley on his way to the kitchen and grab a fist of her hair and yank, then continue walking like nothing happened...or he'll be totally playing and happy and then will just decide to lean over a bite her or smack her on the head with a remote control or something and then acts shocked when we yank her away crying and punish him...Any suggestions on how to nip it in the bud before I kill my kid or die of embarrassment at the park when he attacks a random strangers baby?

Ain't That a Kick in the Head?

Okay...I have to admit that I am a ginormous fan of Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and other big band type music from that era. I LOVE IT! To honor the Valentines spirit of things I've put one of my fav's on the top of my list...but don't worry, there will be plenty more to come!

Gotta Love Frankenmuth

Not really too sure how to spell that. While I was back on my weekend trip to say goodbye to Michigan, Rick took me to Frankenmuth for the ice festival. It was so much fun. Unfortunately it was the last night of the show and it was raining so quite a bit of the sculptures were ruined or in the process of falling apart but we were still able to see quite a few that we liked. Here's Rick by our favorite one of the night...in case you can't tell it's two bears balancing on one another.

Excuse me for looking like a man but with all the rain I decided to hide my carefully curled hair under Ricks beanie (what a gentleman) and my coat and scarf...the scarf that got left behind by the way on my second flight when they decided to land on the opposite side of the airport that can only be reached by busses that take you out on the airstrip that go REALLY slow and make too many stops just 10 minutes before my next flight boarded. Running preganant while having an asthma attack paid off because I made it about 4 minutes before takeoff. Lucky me, right?

There was this way too expensive chicken restaurant that we checked out before deciding to dine elsewhere...it did have this really cool/classy/misleading chicken picture spot which would lead you to believe it was the type of place that would have decent prices...oh no my friends...the amazing wooden chicken was just a way to get you to pay more then you would for Bennihana (Gengi to all you Midlanders) to have some fried chicken - no joke.

We really liked this one for some reason. I think it was just the last one of the night so we were getting a little more daring with our poses. It was a really fun night in spite of the rain. We finished it off with some yummy Olive Garden where, thanks to first trimester fun I ate a whole two bites before I thought I was going to be sick. Gotta love pregnancy.

I've got some fun pictures from our time in Midland that I still need to post, they are all on my other lap top so I will do a tribute to Michigan with one long post full of old pics.

Where the heck are we?

Let me let you all in on a little bit of the drama I call "my life." Okay...so it all began back when the final leg of Rick's training was wrapping up...we knew we would be shipped out but didn't know where. They had pretty much assigned us to Florida when that new job that I wrote about came in and they switched us to L.A. Well, because we were planning on Florida and because we didn't come down for the holidays my mom decided it would be a while till she would see us again so she flew Dyl and I down for New Years and the infamous Rose Parade.
Two days before I was scheduled to load us up and ship back to Michigan, Rick got the relocation call and told me to stay in Cali rather then fly Dyl back and forth and that he would be here by the 28th...so...roughly two weeks. So...I decided to fly back the weekend of the 28th, leave Dyl with his nana and grandma and help Rick finish up the packing and say goodbye to the friends in Midland that we were sad to leave. Well...a hundred dollars later I had my new ticket, scheduled to leave the 24th to go get my husband, who had been away from us for a month by this point.
The day before I flew out Rick called and said they bumped him back at least two more weeks and that he would not be flying back with me. I debated taking Dyl but once again it was a quick two week trip, which is what we were trying to avoid in the first place. So I left, went for an amazing weekend alone with my hubby and sadly and tearfully said goodbye to him on the 29th when I went through that horrific ordeal coming home.
Now they're telling him it could be shorter then two weeks but it also could be longer. It is just so frustrating because in retrospect, had we just flown out the 14th like we had originally planned, we would have been with Rick this past month instead of Dylan wondering where they heck I put his Daddy who he can't seem to find no matter how loud he calls his name as he searches room to room down the hall. It is truly heartbreaking. And of course Rick is convinced Dyl won't remember him when he finally makes it home again. Needless to say Rick isn't exactly the happiest camper, he misses his family and is sick of being alone.
So here I am, back in Upland waiting for some kind of hopefully good news as to when I can get my husband back. We're fasting this Sunday that it will be soon. It sure is hard being apart. At this point it will be at least one and a half months, possibly two until Dyl and Rick will be together again. I think the hardest part by far is the not knowing...if we just knew there was an end in sight we could hold out until it arrived but they just don't seem to have any answers and that is very frustrating. Any prayers would be appreciated :) I'll be posting some pics soon from my fun weekend with Rick.

NEVER FLY NORTHWEST

I just needed to get the word out that I am officially boycotting northwest airlines. Never fly with them. They have the poorest customer service I have EVER experienced. Long story short I arrived 25 min. prior to my flight's departure at an airport the size of a living room with approx. 4 gates total...no other terminals....that's it, 4 gates. I get to the front desk where there is already another couple standing there, ringing a buzzer. He's been there several minutes by this time. We had checked in online but the stupid computer wouldn't let us through without a nw agent...no one was coming. They announced final boarding so the wife frantically ran up to the security and told them to hold the plane because we were still up front waiting for someone to help us. This is still 20 min. prior to leave time. He says they are considering it a "locked flight" and we will not be boarding the plane. Even though we can see the stupid gate and ticket lady from where we are standing no one will come over and check us in. The flight that was supposed to leave at 8:20 am TOOK OFF AT 8:05 WITHOUT US!!! The stupid front desk lady comes out at 8:10 and says..."okay, lets get you guys taken care of". She books me for a flight over five hours later...completely missing my connections and making me miss seeing my Dylan. I am SO upset. She just kept saying the whole time that we "should have been on time." How annoying. Calling didn't help either, they just stood by the fact that company policy states we have to be there 30 minutes early, not 25 to board the plane. When I said, "you know what, no one has even apologized to me, which I feel is the least they could do." The stupid lady says..."Why should we apologize for something that was your own fault?" And that, ladies and gentlemen, is northwest airlines customer service at it's finest.

Update

Here's a very quick update for all those questions people sent my way. I'm almost 11 weeks along now, the baby is due August 21st. The baby and Dyl will be 2 years and a little over one month apart. Umm...what else? I'll be delivering at San Antonio Community Hospital, where I worked while we lived in Cali and where my mom still currently works. I've gotta run because I'm leaving my husband tomorrow to fly back to my baby and it's already past midnight!! Take care everyone!

Hmmm....

Real quick...for some reason it won't let me change the order of my latest post...so because i started it first it comes after the ps i love you post but for all you who don't scroll down, our trip to the zoo got put under it for some reason.

P.S. I love you

I know I'm cheesy but this song is a shout-out to my hubby because I miss him so much and because it will be an entire month apart before I come home to help pack. I LOVE YOU RICK!

Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My!

Last Friday Megan, Bri and I took the little guys to the L.A. Zoo. It was so much fun! We left right around nap time and were worried about cranky babies but they were out after about 10 minutes in the car so they got a good lil' nap on the way there, thank goodness.
We were also worried that the little babies might not really get it but as you can see by the look on cute little Aisley's face they were VERY excited to be at the zoo.

Dyl jumped right in there. He was so excited about every animal we saw. This was our first stop, at the meercats and he kept pointing and saying "Ooooh...wassat?" With a genuinely curious expression on his face. He is such a funny little boy.

Here's Bri and Miss Elly showin' the flamingos how it's done.

These next few pics are at the ginormous turtles. We let the kids sit on the rocks and watch them crawl sloowwwlly by. Dyl was fascinated by them.

I loved how cute Elly and Ais looked in the little Tutu skirts I made them. Dylan sure had fun not being the only kid and hangin' out with his cousins all day.

Are you ready for the bird show? These two sure are! The kids had SO much fun here. They got to see lots of really cool birds from around the world fly up and down the isles and over our heads and stuff.

I love this next pic. They had fun music blasting really loud so of course Dyl and Elly had to get up and dance. I'll try to attach a video of Dyl dancing...it was hilarious.


Then Elly was chosen to go hide a soda can up on the stage for one of the birds to find. He found it pretty fast and went and dropped it in a recycling bin. It was cute.


On to the monkeys, by far Dyl's most favorite part. It was cute because the kids could press right up to the glass and be face to face with them, which of course to them was very exciting. Monkey's are his favorite animal and he of course started singing the monkey song and jumping around.


I had to include this pic because it actually was a pretty cool shot. I don't know if you can really tell or not but the baby turned around to face the daddy and started beating its chest like Tarzan. It was funny. I pretty much should be a professional photographer for National Geographic or something.
Okay, these next two are my favorites because there was this one little monkey that loved Dylan, Dyl kept putting his hand up to the glass and the monkey would put his hand's on Dyl's through the glass, then Dyl got excited and started smacking the glass with both hands which the monkey thought was pretty cool so he started copying Dylan. Dylan loved that this little furry monkey liked his game and started dancing around. Then the monkey started laughing at him. It was so funny to watch.
Had to include the giraffes even though this post is already way too long because they are my favorite animal to see.

Here's Megan and Bri growling back at the big black bear. It was actually kinda freaky because his ledge was so high up and the gate was so close it seemed like it wouldn't be too hard for him to clear it if he decided to jump.


Me and the Dylster checkin' out the hippo. We sure had a beautiful day at the zoo. We're so glad we're going to be close to family so we can have more fun s with cousins for a while. P.S. that's my new chopped hair! 5 1/2 inches baby! It's growing on me...still miss my long hair tho.