Okay, so I've been horrible about updating our blog. In my defense, we've had quite a lot going on!

Dillon started school a few weeks ago, and so far he's having a great time! His class consists of 6 other kids from 2-3 years old, along with one of their parents (so, 7 kids and 7 parents total). He plays with the other kids inside for a while, has a snack, we do a craft, we sing songs and play little games. His favorite part of the day is when we go outside to play for 30 minutes or so at the end of the class. The school has different playgrounds for the different aged children, which is really nice. The toddler-kindergarden playground consists of a huge sand pile, a huge dirt pile, lots of toys (scoops, buckets, etc), a slide and swings, a rabbit (yes a real rabbit!) that the teacher takes out for the children to pet, and even a big chicken coup for the children to go in and feed and pet the chickens! The class is only 2 hours once a week (Fridays from 9-11am), but he still manages to completely wear himself out and get dirtier than a pig in a mud puddle. We're also meeting lots of other parents and children that are Dillon's age, which is great!


Joel is still working hard at Trader Joe's, still in training for the management positions. We're hoping that he'll get his promotion in the first quarter of next year!

Baby is doing well, growing like a weed. We have basically nothing ready for him, so hopefully the next 11 weeks will pass slowly... yeah right! ;o) I'm having a baby shower for my friend Megan in November, and we have TONS of stuff to get done before that happens, including setting up the baby's room. We're making progress, but it's not quite fast enough to keep me from panicking! :o)

I think that's all for now, I'll post some photos later on today once I get them off of the camera. Hope you're all doing well!

Birthday Boy!

Well today was Dillon's second birthday! I can't believe that he's two years old already. Time really just flies by. It seems like he grows and develops so much every week, and at the same time it seems like he was just a tiny little helpless baby yesterday! Today we didn't do a whole lot, but boy am I exhausted. My parents were here, so Dillon got to spend the day with them as well. We made Sesame Street cupcakes (which he still hasn't eaten), went to dinner, and then came home and opened a couple of presents. And, okay, I'll never be a professional cake decorator, but the cupcakes sure are cute! He got a brand spankin' new tricycle, which is made completely from recycled material. So cool! And he got right on and started pushing himself around. He hasn't really figured out the pedals yet, but that's okay! He was scooting around the living room and just loving every second of his new big boy vehicle.

I also had a meeting this morning with the teacher and the other families at his new school program at the local Waldorf school. I'm not sure what we'll end up doing as far as education with him (or any of our children for that matter), but we love the Waldorf ideas and are starting a parent-toddler program on Friday the 11th, which is just once a week for a couple of hours. I think it'll be great to get him around other kids on a regular basis, and place him in a different environment where his mind and imagination are fostered. Of course either Joel or I will be there with him during this program, it's not one of those where you drop them off, which is really okay with me. I'm not quite ready to let him go yet, and I don't think that he's ready to be without us either at this point. I'll make sure to let everyone know how his first day of school went next week! :o)

Here are some photos from today, of my big boy! :o)

"Thank You"

Dillon's newest and most favorite thing to say is 'thank you'. It's adorable, and sometimes has absolutely nothing at all to do with whatever he's doing. Sure, he says it when you give him something, or if you're about to put food on the table, but if he wants something that you have, he says 'thank you' and expects you to hand it to him. If his favorite show comes on TV, he'll say thank you to the TV. If you're eating something that he thinks he might want some of, he runs over to you, says 'thank you', and opens his mouth as wide as it can possibly go, like a little baby bird getting that nasty worm puke from it's mama! (yes, I know its nutritious, and yes I know the baby birds can't eat anything else, but you have to admit, it's still a little gross). It's just the funniest thing you've ever seen! I keep trying to take a picture of him with his mouth wide open and eyes squinched shut, but so far I haven't managed to capture the moment.

In the meantime, here are some photos from our week-long trip to Southern California in July, where my friend Becks took some adorable photos. It's too bad that Dillon refused to be sociable or look at the camera, but think of these as 'candid' shots. ;o) (these are all unedited, but still adorable! I might come back and edit them later)

We've joined the 21st Century!

Well, this is our first post on our family blog page. Due to popular demand (haha), we'll keep everyone updated in one place on our goings on! And that place, is here. So come back for updates on my little chicken and his little chicken brother-to-be! :o)