I like

Dillon is talking more and more these days! This morning he put his hands on me and said "I like" then laid his head against my chest. AW! My mommy heart melted!! I like.

Funny Things My Boy Said Today

I was getting ready for work this morning and Dillon came in and said "Fuffy!" I had no idea what "fuffy" meant. He came back carrying his sippy cup and again said, "fuffy!" so I told him to show Mommy. He handed me his sippy and excitedly said, "fuffy!" and led me to the kitchen. He pointed to his dad's to go cup of coffee from the night before and said, "fuffy!" LOL apparently he was asking for some coffee. I got him a refill of watered down juice.

I was getting dressed for work this morning. Dillon brought me my pajama shirt while yelling "shirt! shirt!". He handed it to me and I told him, "thank you". He said "chuk-oo" (his current approximation of thank you) and did a funny Chinese-esque bow.

I swear he said more but I can't remember it now. He says so many things everyday that make me laugh but it seemed like he was in rare form this morning! My absolute favorite though was when he climbed in bed with me this morning and whispered, "Mommy...luh-oo...Mommy...luh" (He was telling me he loves me if you don't speak two year old).

My (Not So) Little Girl

I want to tell you about an incredible young girl. But first I want to tell you a story.

There was once a young woman who got married to her high school sweetheart. This young woman loved children dearly and longed to someday have children of her own. During their first year of marriage in the early Spring of 2001, she began to have many of the physical symptoms of pregnancy. However, all tests came up negative and the doctor said she definitely was not pregnant. Soon her body seemed to confirm this. The young woman suspected she lost a baby early on but the doctor could not confirm it. This happened more than once during a short period of time. Once when the woman thought she was pregnant, she prayed, desperately wanting answers. She read a verse in the Bible that said: 

Nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37

The young woman took this as a promise she was having a much longed-for baby. She knew in her heart it was a promise of a child. But no child came and her body again behaved normally.

The marriage was not a happy one and it did not last. The young woman knew she would never have children because after this marriage, she didn't want to be married again and she didn't want children without a husband. She cried often about this. And she wondered about the promise from God.

After some time passed, the young woman met a wonderful man. They fell in love and after a while got married. The man had a young daughter. The young woman loved the little girl very much! She was born in November 2001, two years before the woman met her. One day the young woman counted back to when the girl would have been conceived. It was early Spring 2001.

This story is obviously my story. And my Autumn's story in a way. I truly believe she was promised to me by God years before I met her. She has another mother who will always hold a place of higher importance in her heart and life but this little girl and I have a very special relationship. She is my daughter.

My little girl turned NINE on November 7th.

 We celebrated with a sleepover this last weekend. We had two little girls over.

 It was a Hawaiian themed event. We did crafts, watched movies, had scavenger hunts, made our own pizzas, and were generally pretty silly!

 I made her cake (I've made all 7 but 2 since I met her-the 2 year old one because I had just met her a week earlier and they celebrated in Lubbock and the 7 year old one because I had just had a baby..she had a cupcake cake that year)-it's a volcano cake!

  Autumn is such a joy! She is so kind to others and has such a big heart! She loves crafts, art, animals, music, reading and family (not necessarily in that order). She is beautiful and so smart (6th grade reading level as a 3rd grader!)! Happy Birthday, my beautiful schnicklefritz!

Don't Go!

This morning, when I took Dillon to daycare, he said to me, "Don't Go!" So this sentence has so much to tell you!!

Dillon is talking so much these days! He's all the time coming out with words we had no idea he knew! It's amazing to be able to communicate with this little person in a clear, unambigious way! And he knows what he's saying. He relates it to his routines sometimes. Last night while I was in class, he told Daddy, "All Done! (and handed him his bowl of dinner) All Done! (and handed him his juice cup) Out! (he wanted out of his high chair) Hand!(he wanted his hand cleaned!)" He relates it to what he sees. He tells me, "I see! I see!" and when you ask him what he sees, he'll tell you (bird. horse. car. etc). He relates it to what he wants you to do. He tells us "Sit! Sit!" or he told Sissy (a.k.a. Autumn) this weekend, "Get down!" when she got on the hearth where he's not allowed to be. He tells us "Walk uk, Mama! Walk uk, Dada!" when we're napping or pretending to nap! He uses sentences more and more like the above. And like "Don't Go".

I don't think I'd make a great stay at home mom. I think I'd soon find myself searching out mom's groups and playgroups and volunteering opportunities and mommy day outs and before long we wouldn't be staying home so much! I'm not in my ideal job but staying home full time wouldn't offer me enough fulfillment for me. I would love more time with my baby, though. I would love even just knowing that I'm leaving him where he's safe and loved and nurtured. And it tears at my heart strings when he says, "Don't Go!".

He really just wanted me to play dinosaurs with him. He kept handing me one and I would make it ROAR at him. I would love the flexibility to stay a few minutes and play dinosaurs, maybe settle him into breakfast before I go. As it is, I feel I have to make the hand off as quick as possible so I'm not late(r) to work! I would love to know that the teacher would get down and play dinosaurs with him since I couldn't. Instead I had to leave him sitting in her lap sitting where she is sitting everyday.

We found a GREAT new daycare! It's a little bit more expensive than the current one (enough that it is a concern but not so much we can't manage it). But they serve organic food. And they engage the children in learning AND playing. And they have cameras where I can check in on him during the day online....like I would love to do now as I miss him and think of him telling me, "Don't Go". And we plan to move him to this daycare. As soon as we can get the current one paid off and everything squared away. Hopefully soon.

But I can't leave you on a down note. Because Dillon and Autumn both are such joys in my (and Shane's) life! They are such incredible kids! They both are good kids and smart and SO stinkin cute! Neither one really is in trouble much and if I'm ever frustrated with them (which I am sometimes...but it says more about me!), it's because they have so much energy and curiosity! I'll also be updating you guys soon on Little Miss A...because she is turning NINE! I can't believe that on Nov 7, my baby will be NINE!!!

 Dillon was a rockstar for Halloween (Autumn was a Princess Vampire but those pics are on Shane's phone). Seen above(without the sunglasses) at the Boo at the Zoo looking at a bear!

Big Two Year Old!

Dillon turned 2 on October 4th! YAY Dillon!

We didn't do much for his actual birthday. We sang to him a couple times and generally gave him a little more attention and he LOVED that! He got to go to Guitar Center (his favorite!!) with Daddy while Mommy was taking a test at the University. I got home in time to give him a little gift (that he wasn't interested in lol) and tell him goodnight. I told him goodnight at the exact time of his birth-9:04 PM-which was really sweet! We did eat at Mamo's (my mom's) the night before and he even had a cupcake with a candle on it to blow out. He ate the cupcake with one hand and his ice cream with the other hehe. Mamo spoiled him with clothes and LaLa (my sister, Lisa) gave him a bowling set which he loves!

On his actual birthday in some of the clothes Mamo gave him!

I took him to the doctor (D says "daw-cker?") yesterday for his 2 year checkup. Here's his stats:
height: 36.75 inches (97%)
weight: 29.9 lbs (75%)
head: 19.5 cm (75%)
The doctor kept commenting on how tall he is! She said he'll probably be 6' or 6'2" full grown. I found on this site that he may even be 6'4"! If you knew my grandpa (6'2" I think-he seemed giant to me!) or know my cousin, Cameron(6'4"), you may not be as surprised by this!

Dillon with his tall Daddy

The doctor also kept saying how cute he is! I must agree!! She said he's right on track developmentally and probably a little advanced in his speech. She was very impressed with his knowing all his animals and their sounds (and they have animals painted on the wall so D had to tell her while we were there "sheep?" "tow (cow)?"!). He's perfectly healthy! His tubes are out of his eardrums but still in his ears and apparently bugging him. She told me how to deal with that, too. He had an ear infection two weeks ago but it was his first since February so that's great!

At the doctor appointment. Can you guess what he did next? He turned off the light! He is so ornery! He would turn it off and say "Uh Oh"!

We are amazed with Dillon and more in love with him everyday! I'm sorry I don't update this blog more often! I am trying to do better about blogging in general as I somehow have gotten myself into blogging for 4 separate blogs (shameless plug for my environmental blog I share, shameless plug for my career/school/dreams blog, shameless plug for the local Democratic blog to which I contribute)! Shane says I neglect this one because I'm comfortable in my role as mother so I don't feel a need to write about it. I know all of you want updates on my guy though so I'll TRY to do better!!

Update of sorts

Shameful! I am SO behind!! Let's see-major events only to hopefully get everyone sort of caught up! Dillon is huge now! He's about 23 lbs and probably around 34 inches (guessing) tall. He has 11 teeth as of today. He has several words-including his newest: "ditta" (guitar).
Mother's Day and my birthday:


Lisa (aka Aunt Lala, my sister) and I entered paintings in an open show at our local art museum:


Aunt Lala/Lisa came for a visit (and her little dog, too!):

We went on vacation to Washington state in July:




We went to the tri-state fair (a tradition) AND I won 2nd place with my painting and Autumn got honorable mention with hers!





Dillon turned one year old!






The day before Dillon's first birthday, a wonderful man left this world for the Next. My grandfather, Martin McConley Clancy passed away October 03, 2009. He will be sorely missed.

Halloween came:


Autumn was Princess Jasmine:

And Dillon was a Panda Bear:

Autumn turned EIGHT!



Shortly after Dillon's first birthday, he started walking on his own! This is an early picture of him walking on Thanksgiving:

I didn't get any other good pictures of Thanksgiving!
Autumn was Clara in her school play version of the Nutcracker! Complete with a solo!

We took our usual trip to the museum around Christmas (and saw Santa):



Of course there was Christmas itself (and Dillon was again sick this year-though not quite as badly):






January 8, 2010, Dillon and Autumn's great-grandfather, Shane's grandfather, FB Logan passed away. We will miss him.


Ok that gets us pretty much caught up! PHEW! I'll try not to do that again! I'm in school as well as working and Dillon is into EVERYTHING these days so not a lot of time for blogging!