Dylan's New Look

One of our many appointments this month was to follow up on Dylan's eyes.  They're not horrible, but bad enough that they recommended he get glasses and get used to them before kindergarten next year.  I had no idea my little Dylan had a need for glasses at all.  Go figure. At first I was a little sad that my baby wouldn't look the same, but I'm quickly getting used to the idea and I think he looks pretty cute in them.  Anyway, they were supposed to take about a week, but were in two days later so we went to pick them up last Friday.  The whole process was another classic Dylan adventure.  When he got the glasses, he called them his detective glasses and walked around the store singing "Mysterious, very mysterious" (from Backyardigans).  I swear I can never get that kid to hold still for five minutes.  Just getting him fitted was quite the project.  I put Preston in a cart with a seatbelt on so I could at least worry about one kid at a time.  We got them at Sam's Club and went over to get some pizza for dinner afterward (remember, no kitchen at our house)  When I got to our table, Dylan was wearing the glasses down on his nose and I was trying to explain to him that he could see better and would look like a big kid with glasses if he pushed them on all the way.  I told him old men reading the newspaper wear their glasses down on their nose, not big boys who need to run around and play.  I finally had to say detectives wear their glasses on their face and it worked.  Of course he giggled at every comment I made. He looked around and said, "Like that old man over there?" I quickly replied, "Shhh, be quiet. Yes, like that old man," (so embarrassing).  He giggled again and repeated himself plenty loud.  Honestly child!  When Marcos saw him, he caught onto the detective thing and started singing the song from Inspector Gadget.  We got him transition lenses, even though he wanted these magnetic clip-on sunglasses because I knew he would not be able to keep track of those.  I helped get him excited about the different lenses by telling him they were magic because they change color all by themselves.  That got him pretty stoked about the glasses again.  So if you run into Detective Dylan singing "mysterious very mysterious" or "da da da da da inspector gadget" and telling you his glasses are magic, just play along. :)

March 2009 - Complete Chaos!

I know, I know. I'm sorry. I've practically fallen off the face of the earth. I can honestly say I haven't had a spare minute to do anything. You read my sob story earlier that summed up all the bad news we had had as of the beginning of the month. Well, very few things got worse, but we definitely added to the chaos. Here's the part of the list I can remember.

• At least two appointments (doctor/dentist/school) of one type or another every week this month. 
  
• Caught a couple of the bugs going around, although we've also managed to avoid a couple (let's pray it stays that way). 
  
• Tended Anthony extra days in the week, which always just adds to the chaos in my days.
  
• Trip to Idaho to visit my sister and help with birds (they have pheasants and had to catch and deliver them)
  
• More birthday celebrations (pictures to come later)
  
• Demolition of kitchen/dining room (and of course we did things the hard way - ripped out linoleum only to find out we needed to rip out the floor under it too...good times)
  
• Started laying tile
  
• Lived for a week with my refrigerator in the living room, tile everywhere, and just an overall mess
  
• Two Treehouse Museum trips, a couple trips to the park, hundreds of laps around the cul-de-sac and whatever else we could do to stay out of the torn-up house as much as possible during the day
  
• Started painting dining room/kitchen/living room (realized pretty early that none of that could happen during hours the children were awake - needless to say we haven't had nearly enough sleep the last few weeks)
  
• Finished laying tile, started a new smaller tile project only to realize we don't know how to lay the carpet back down (anybody know someone that can lay existing carpet back down really cheap?)
  
• Grouted (to grout...is that a verb or only a noun?)
  

Still To Do

• Finish grouting one last little tile project
  
• Buy new baseboards and paint them before next Saturday when my brother-in-law can hang them
  
• Finish painting living room and up the hallway upstairs
  
• Two more appointments (one per kid) this week and more next week
  
• Figure out a way to fix meals without a stove/oven for at least 4 days, maybe a week without spending any more money (the project money is going fast)
  
• Find someone to lay the carpet back down so we can put the couches back and pretend to live here this week
  
• Figure out when and with whom we will complete the second half of the remodeling project (living room/entry flooring)
  
• Clean EVERYTHING - tiling is much dustier than I realized. My once clean house has a layer covering everything I own
  
• Get some sleep
  
• Get back to the gym
  

So I'll be back and trying to catch up on blogging as soon as I can. Don't give up on me yet. I'm certain the level of chaos around here cannot remain permanently. I doubt I could handle it physically, mentally or emotionally! :)

Happy Birthday Prestonian!

So my baby turned 2 today. I honestly cannot believe it. For one thing, he was not supposed to be a March birthday at all - my due date was April 10. His birth definitely came as a surprise to us all. On March 14, I had a terrible stomach bug and could not keep anything down. By 5 p.m. I was having contractions, but I didn't think anything of it - especially since I still had four weeks left. Marcos took Dylan to Young Men's with him so I could rest and between 6 and 8 p.m. my contractions got stronger and closer together (from about 6 minutes apart to 4). I called my midwife and she told me to take a warm bath and try to sip on some fluids. By 11 p.m. we were on our way to the hospital with contractions 3 minutes apart. My mom was on her way to get Dylan for the night. I was pretty dehydrated, which had induced labor. Three bags of fluid and a couple of shots later, it was pretty obvious we were there to stay. Other than my epidural not taking the first time and my labor stopping when I was dilated to an 8, it was a fairly easy birth. At 11:50 am on March 15, my little Preston Santiago was born. It's been an adventure ever since. He spent 4 days in the NICU for low glucose, although he was the biggest "preemie" they had at 7 lbs 11 oz but was a fairly healthy little dude other than that. We've had to go to countless specialists the past two years, but everything has been minor and manageable. We are truly very blessed to have him in our lives. Well, the day wouldn't be complete without my little list of favorites from this little monkey. Here are a few that come to mind.

• I love his smile. You can see the love radiate through him when he gives you his grin.
• His eyes are so honest and pure. They really are the window to his soul.
• He's such a tease. It's relatively new, but it's so funny. He loves to turn and run away when he thinks I'm going to chase him and he doesn't understand the concept of being in trouble yet. Everything is a game.
• He is so sweet. Preston has a heart of gold. He loves and cares for people in a way I've never seen a child do before. At such a young age, he would put his arm around Dylan to comfort him when he was sad. So precious!
• He is the cutest little brother. He's recently started calling Dylan D-O (I think he's trying to say Dill). When Dylan was riding in the car with my sister, Preston called out his name over and over - just devastated to be separated from his lifelong buddy.
• Preston is so simple and easily entertained. He's so content with just a ball or a balloon to throw around all day long. He loves to play ball and has a great aim already!
• He is so happy! I don't know what it is, but the kid is just naturally happy. He loves life and is just okay to be living it. His sad moments are short-lived and then he's back to being happy Preston again.
• He is so snuggly! He gives the best hugs and cuddles ever! You can't really ask for them or tell him to give someone a hug - it has to be his idea. But when he wants a love (or to show you love) be prepared for a great snuggle.
• He is getting to be such a big boy. He loves trying on everyone's shoes and pretty much copying everything Dylan does (or trying to). It's cute to watch!
• Preston loves music and dancing. The kid's got rhythm and is happy when the music's on.
• He shares. For a two-year-old, he's very patient and will wait his turn. He already knows how to share and doesn't get jealous when other people use his things.
• He is our little peacemaker and we love him for it. Life would not be complete without this little bundle of joy around our house.

Happy birthday, little man!

The day we left the hospital (4 days old)

Just after his 1st birthday

(if you missed this one the story is here)

My mischievous litte 2-year-old climbing on the table, jumping around and giggling

Dylanisms

Here are some of the latest and greatest from my funny little guy.  I thought I'd lighten things up a little and try to get back to normal, despite all the craziness we've had.  

- You were showing Anthony a trick one day. You asked him which hand the coin was in and then showed him one hand and then the other. The coin wasn’t there. Anthony was pretty excited and asked, “Hey, how’d you do that?” You replied, “A good magician never reveals his secrets.

- Out of the blue, you said to me, “Mom, when I grow up to a husband, you are going to be my wife.”
- One day you were asking so many questions and would just not stop talking. You were interrupting everything I said and just driving me crazy. I finally said, “Enough!” You said, “What, am I just too questiony?”
- You lost your 1st tooth on Saturday, February 21. We were all a little sad and nervous at first and then you were thrilled when you realized you would get money from the tooth fairy. I couldn’t help but laugh at all the questions you had about the tooth fairy though. “Why does she need all those teeth? Is it a girl or a boy? Does she have lots of babies that need teeth or something? Where does she get the money she brings me?” You are so inquisitive!  

- You lost your second tooth a week later - two teeth gone before your 5th birthday!
- We bought a little pump to blow up balloons. You were asking me if they were the kind of balloons that would float in the air. I told you no because they only had oxygen in them. You asked me what the floating balloons have in them and I told you helium. You replied, “Oh yeah, Helaman.”
- One day you said, “Mom can you shoot me with those bedtime bullets?” I was only sort of paying attention so you asked again. I finally realized I didn’t know what you were talking about and said, “What do you mean bedtime bullets?” You said, “You know the kind they shoot the bears with.” “Oh tranquilizers? No, I will not shoot you with a tranquilizer before bed.” I guess you really are having a difficult time getting to sleep if you’re asking for a tranquilizer.
- One day you put a cup on your foot and asked if you looked like a pirate. I said yes and you said, “Yeah because I have a peg leg on my foot.”
- You told me you were going to marry Kambrie in the temple and I told you that was a good idea. You said, “Yeah and we’re going to have 15 kids.” Sure, why not?
- Another day you said, “When I grow up to a dad, would you like to meet my kids?” Yep, I’m pretty sure I will. Funny boy, you say the silliest things!
- In church you were learning about prophets and your teacher said, “Dylan, do you think one day you could be a prophet?” You got a serious look on your face and thought for a minute and then replied, “No, I’m just going to be a cowboy when I grow up.”
- I usually bring bread to church since sacrament meeting is during lunchtime. After the sacrament (bread and water) I will get out a little food if you are hungry. One day you were eating your piece of bread and leaned over to me and said, “Mom, guess what. I’m thinking about Jesus while I’m eating this bread.” I told you that was good and gave you a big squeeze and kissed the top of your head. At least you were thinking about Jesus at some point, even if it was the wrong bread. Later you were breaking off pieces of bread to share with Preston and leaned over to me and asked, “Mom, do you think Preston is thinking about Jesus’ skin too?” Cute! I guess flesh and skin are pretty much the same thing to a 5-year-old.
- On your birthday I said, “Yeah, it’s your birthday. Cuantos tenes?” (how old are you)  You held up 5 fingers and I said, “Cinco?” (5)  “Yeah cinco.” I said, “Wow.” You said, “No mom, you’re supposed to say “no me digas.” (don't tell me that - it basically means I can't believe it)  Funny boy! You have no idea how much Spanish you actually know.
- You were telling Anthony, “When I’m 5, you’ll be 4; when I’m 6, you’ll be 5; when I’m 7, you’ll be 6; when I’m 8, you’ll be 7; when I’m 9, you’ll be 8…” and Anthony said, “And then we’ll be teenagers.” I said, “Oh no.  Don’t tell me that.” You both giggled and then Anthony said, “Teenagers listen to strange music.” Funny!
- You were telling me about Danimals crush cups and how you crush then slurp them. I told you maybe we’d try them one day when they are on sale. You said, “Yeah, right now they’re just on buy huh?”
- You asked me what a circle and a line meant and drew it in the air to show me. I told you it meant no and asked you if you saw that on the Danimals commercial with a spoon. You said yes. I told you that meant you no spoon was needed to eat it and sometimes you might see that sign with a cigarette behind it which would mean “No smoking”. You just said, “Oh.” The rest of the night every time I asked you something when the answer was no you said, “circle and a line” and drew the sign in the air.
- Your sense of humor is so funny. You try to memorize jokes and share them with others, but you get them all mixed up. You also try to finish the punchline of a joke, but rarely get it right. I taught you the knock knock joke where you say banana a couple of times and then say orange. You finish the joke with “orange you glad I didn’t say banana.” You have turned that into random banana knock-knock jokes. Knock-knock, who’s there, banana Uboldi (giggling at yourself).
- One day I read you a few jokes off of a piece of laughy taffy. One joke said, “What do you call a lazy baby kangaroo?” You thought about it and said, “a hoppy Joe.” Hey at least you try. The answer was really “a pouch potato.” It’ll be interesting to see when you actually start to understand the jokes for real.

A Crappy Couple of Weeks

Okay, so Dylan had a birthday and I've been busy working on that.  He was thrilled and had a great time, but I'm so glad it's over.  Aside from his birthday, it's been just about the busiest couple of weeks, not to mention the most stressful couple of weeks we've had in quite awhile. And the part that sucks the most - nobody knows and for the most part nobody will.  No, I'm not soliciting virtual hugs, but sometimes it's just hard to take when everything happens at once.  A month or two ago when I talked about my friend and all the trials she had had and how it's best just to give people the benefit of the doubt because you never know what they're going through.  It's one of those moments.  Let me see if I can sum up the weeks for you without divulging any of the CRAP we're dealing with here.  

• Sick as a dog, potential ER visit - luckily crisis managed (we think)
• Kindergarten registration (no, not everything is totally devastating, but all this added to the stress)
• Well check - need to follow up with a specialist (didn't see that one coming)
• Helping friends move (this part was actually fun, but I had to add it to the list of things we did the last couple of weeks)
• Specialist during the snow storm with other child and yep there's a problem, we'll send you to another specialist
• 2nd specialist: nope what they thought was wrong isn't, but let's send you to the other specialist again
• Third specialist: oh the problem's still there so we don't know - come back in a month and we'll check again (what the...?)  I wonder if we will have any flex spending money left by the end of March with all of these appointments.
• Friends with bad medical news - what can it all mean?  Hopes up, but fear is setting in.
• Devastating, life-changing news...rip your heart out crap that you just can't talk about...
• Neighbors with sad news that we are trying to support and be there for - misunderstandings, hurt feelings, accusations and thanks to mature adults and friendships, some sort of resolve
• Another appointment for one of the kids that basically confirmed some of our fears - it'll be fine, but it adds to the list
• Oh and that appointment helped us realize just how close to the poverty line we actually are (how many years of grad school later?) At least we won't have to pay as much I guess - although I'm not one to enjoy freaking handouts.  
• Picking out tile, no laminate flooring, no tile...oh, and paint (I'm thrilled, but it's super bad timing of course)  And can we still afford it?  We did have a tax return...we'll see after all this.
• Helping during Dylan Day at preschool
• Birthday party planning
• More people misunderstanding and getting their feelings hurt.
• Even more medical complications from the friends...this time a hospitalization

Honestly, there is only so much one woman, mother, friend, neighbor, person can deal with!  So you can see why I nearly had a meltdown when I got home with three kids in tow and realized the lady at the drive-thru Chevron gave me 44 oz of Mountain Dew instead of Diet Mountain Dew.  The last thing I needed was extra calories!!

Dylan's Dinosaur Party

Dylan had his first real "friend" party this year.  The weird part is that many of his friends happen to be his cousins, which makes it kind of seem like a family thing.  It was a little stressful planning everything and getting it all ready since it was definitely a crazy week (which I'll probably gripe about later).  He invited his cousins on both sides of the family (Tony, Connor and Kamyn on my side of the family and Gabi, Mason, Diego, Leah & Mylo on Marcos' side of the family).  He also invited Anthony (the little boy I tend) and Kambrie and Shannon, who are friends from church.  Everyone was there except Gabi, who had another birthday party that day.  It was quite a few kids for a 5 year old party, but he wanted them all so we went for it. The kids started to arrive and played with toys until everyone got there.  Then we headed out back for a dinosaur egg hunt.  That turned out really fun.  I had put their loot in the eggs and color-coordinated them so that each person would get one egg of every color and then get one of everything we had bought for little handouts (dinosaur stamp, dino tatoos, stretchy dinosaurs, plastic dinosaurs, bubbles, dino bone candy, dino ring...I don't remember what all we bought).  They didn't quite grasp the concept of only finding 9 eggs each so we divided them up when we went inside.  After the egg hunt, we had a little fossil dig, which was pretty fun too.  I found these little fossil dinosaurs in goo that were perfect so I didn't have to create my own. We buried them in the sandbox.  Apparently we did too good of a job though because we were still missing a few at the end.  Oh well, I think it was still pretty fun.  After the fossil dig, we came in and played pin the pteradactyl on the dinosaur picture.  Then we headed out front for the pinata.  Didn't quite think that one through as neighbors on bikes start heading down to the house.  Luckily their mom noticed and called them inside.  Our neighbor on the side of us had friends over with kids though that sat there at the border of our houses ready to play.  I finally whispered to one of them that we'd throw some candy over later, but to just let the kids at the party play.  Kind of awkward, but what do you do?  Honestly, watch your children or teach them manners.  He was probably 9.  Whatever.  Anyway, that was fun and each of the kids got a turn and then Tony busted it open.  He hit it hard enough that a couple packets of candy opened up.  Strong kid!  After that, we headed inside for some cake and ice cream and then straight downstairs for presents.  Dylan LOVED everything!  He got a dinosaur, some dragons, four Little Einstein games (go fish, bingo, a memory game...) and then a scooter from Marcos' side of the family and one of those kid-proof digital cameras from my side of the family.  It was perfect!  The kids headed out back to play (which was just as fun for them as the party itself) and we gathered up their bags and dinosaur masks to send home.  It was tricky to get pictures and lead everything so we have some, but not as many as I would have liked.  Oh well, the memory is in our head as much as anything.  We also set the video camera up on the tripod during the games and presents, but I saw kids "helping" with the videography so it should be interesting footage.  I'll break that out later.  It was tricky to figure out what to do.  We have always invited family, but Dylan really wanted a friend party and the idea of having three parties made me a little crazy.  And unfortunately, my house doesn't fit 35 people very well (not with having enough room to actually do the games at least).  I was feeling a little bit judged and criticized over the whole thing until Dylan came up to me after the party and said, "Mom, thanks for my dinosaur party.  You throwed the best party ever!"  Wa-hoo!  I accomplished what I set out to accomplish.  My kid LOVED his party and wouldn't have asked for anything to be different.  So here are the pictures I did manage to snap during the fiesta.  Yep, my baby's 5 and now we're all partied out - at least for a week when Preston turns 2.  Man, what were we thinking?

Happy Birthday Dylan!

So my "baby" turned 5 today.  I'm not sure  how I feel about it yet.  On the one hand, he's getting better in Primary, he's excited for kindergarten (I'm going to be a mess when that actually happens) and is pretty helpful around the house and with Preston.  So 5 could be good for us.  On the other hand, he has very little "baby" left in him.  He's pretty much a tall, skinny, curious ball of solid boy energy at this point.  No baby fat, good word pronunciation, can do so many things without help...  It's sad, but good. The only "baby" left in him seems to be the need for snuggles and reassurance. We had a simple day today, but still wanted to celebrate his birth. He's having a little party with his cousins and a couple friends this weekend. This morning we went to the Treehouse Museum.  He chose McDonald's for lunch and then he and Anthony played treasure hunt in the backyard. After Anthony left, we went to my mom's house for pizza, a small cake and a birthday present from grandma (since the party's just for kids). He got a new track to add onto his geotrax train and a dinosaur book.  It was a really fun, easy day.  I spent a lot of time reflecting on our life with Dylan.  I don't know what we would do without him.  He's a handful at times, but lights up our world.  Here are some of my favorite things about my little Dylan.

• His creativity.  Ever since he was little, I haven't had to guide or direct his play.  He has such an imagination.  He can turn anything into playtime.
• His sense of humor.  The kid is funny and he knows it.  He spends his time trying to entertain others and won't stop until he gets a laugh.
• His kind heart.  Even though it's not obvious at first, the kid has tender feelings to spare. When Preston fell off the bench in Flaming Gorge and hit his head on the cement, you'd have thought Dylan was the one hurt.  He screamed and then cried for his brother.  He was so concerned.  
• He's a great friend.  He's protective of those he loves.  Whether family or friend, Dylan is protective of everyone he loves.  He forgets the rules about being kind to others when he thinks  he is defending someone he cares about.  
• His smile is to die for.  The kid first smiled at me when he was about 3 weeks old and I didn't believe he could really be smiling already.  Since then, he's been winning hearts with his charm and captivating smile.
• He's a natural leader.  Kids listen to and follow Dylan.  For some reason, even older kids will listen to my little one.  
• He's brave, social and a performer at heart.  Okay, except for when it comes to speaking into a microphone - for some reason he freezes up when he hears the echo from the microphone.  But he has such courage.  He'll ask older kids to play with him, ask an adult for something he needs, you name it, he'll do it.  It takes him a minute and then he goes for it.  He also loves being the center of attention, which I'm sure comes from his dad.  :)
• He's strong and naturally athletic.  The kid is just coordinated.  He's got little baby muscles and abs that I could only hope to have one day.  If we can get his emotions in check, he'll probably be quite good at sports. 
• His observant nature.  He catches everything.  Even when you don't know he's listening, he'll ask you questions about the subject at hand.  Scary, but I'm glad.  He notices when I wear different earrings, do my hair or wear lipstick.  Nothing gets past him.

Well, there are a million other things I could say, but I won't drag this on too long.  I just wanted to say how grateful I am to be Dylan's mom.  The good, the bad and the crazy!