Tis the Season...

CHRISTMAS…It's the most wonderful time of the year.

That is what they always say, and I couldn't agree more!

I love the Christmas season. I love the lights, cheerful faces, presents, the feeling in the air, and most of all BLACK FRIDAY.

With Dylan's due date a month prior to Christmas and two days prior to Black Friday, I thought Christmas was mostly going to be a non-event for us this year. It actually turned out to be an amazing season and wonderful day.

Our first festivity was the Kurt Bestor Christmas concert.

Ryan worked Mr. Bestor's concerts for KSL and in turn was able to score us some tickets.

This was exactly what we needed to get us in the Christmas spirit.

I have a secret love for Jane Seymour and Dr. Quinn. Kind of nerdy, but I can't deny it. When Jane was going to be performing with the Mormon Tabernacle choir for their Christmas concert I knew I had to get tickets. Unfortunately an event like this is a lottery. You put in your name and hope you get picked. Well, I didn't. I was devastated. I watched KSL for a chance to snag some tickets, but I wasn't willing to pay the hundreds of dollars people were asking for to go to a FREE concert. I didn't give up hope though. Well Thursday morning, the day of the concert, I got a text from my dear friend Heather telling me she had tickets and asked if I wanted to go. It was a Christmas miracle! The concert turned out to be wonderful and an item was crossed off of my bucket list, to be able to semi-meet Jane Seymour. (I already admitted it's nerdy!)

Our season also contained the tiniest bit of snow… in which Cayson was prepared to take full advantage of.

Too bad he hates the cold like his mother and came in a few minutes later.

We made Santa hats…

Had a family Christmas party with the Reilleys where we made gingerbread houses

Opened lots and lots of presents…

Hung out with the grandparents…

Opened even more presents…

 Played the Rhodes annual ping-pong tournament…

Bingo…

Won some amazing white elephant presents…

Lost all of our money to Robyn…

Opened even more presents…

Wore new pajamas…

Opened stockings…

 Enjoyed the company of family…

Were spoiled rotten…

Set up Cayson's new train… that quickly became Ryan's new train…

(He had always wanted a real train of his very own)

Hung out with our dear Granny, Nelly, and Grandma…

 

Story behind this one… we were at the hospital and were asking the nurses what to name Dylan… they said one of the names that came through was the one below… I will let you figure it out!

The Rhodes were generous enough to get me a present from that person…

 

Even Dylan was spoiled…

What a great year! We celebrated… made our turkey dinner… stayed home… opened presents at five pm… and were just lazy.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Dylan and other news...

These are pictures of Dylan taken at about one month.

Thanks Heather!

Our little old man…

Seriously though, doesn't he look like an old man?

He has changed quite a bit since these pictures and is definitely growing into himself.

Mom and Dad have given a sigh of relief!

He has the longest little toes!

 

In other news… Cayson is potty trained! Well mostly. We are still working on "#2".

A couple of weeks ago Ryan had put Cayson on the toilet. Cayson was not making any progress and it was bedtime. Ryan told him it was time for bed, in which Cayson responded "No" and proceeded to take care of business. Needless to say that week was spent potty training. Incentives seem to really work on this kid. I bought some chocolate for him to have every time he went. I'm not sure if it's the fact that he never gets candy or if he really was ok with going potty on the toilet, but he has done really well with it. Our other tactic was to reward him with two crackers every time we asked him if he was dry and he was. I couldn't be more thrilled with his accomplishment and am definitely the proud mother! We are now going on five days without an accident. Hopefully here is to many many more!

Dylan also has reached a milestone in his life. The past couple of nights he has been sleeping through the night. Eight weeks old and sleeping seven or eight hours. Boy does my heart swell to be getting some sleep! Thank you Babywise!

Cayson’s 2nd Birthday

On November 28^th we celebrated Cayson's 2^nd birthday. I can't believe how time flies. It feels like just yesterday they were placing him in my arms. Yet, here we are. Cayson has brought a tremendous amount of joy into our lives! We are so happy to have him in our family!

Cayson seemed to really enjoy his special day. He would sing "Happy Birthday, two… three…"over and over again. It was really kind of cute. He spent the afternoon with Grandma Meleta, Uncle Ben, and Grandma Mott. They spoiled him rotten, from delicious food, to shopping and toys. Later on Grandma and Grandpa Rhodes and Reilley and family came over as well as Mason and Jen. Cayson was in heaven with all the attention and toys that he received. He is definitely loved!

   

Happy Birthday Cayson!

 

I wanted to journal some of the things that describe Cayson and some of the things that he loves, so that one day he could look back and see what his little two year old self was like.

Words that describe Cayson:

Energetic…Caring… Good at sharing… Loving…

Happy…Inquisitive…Aware… Loves to Learn…

Great Brother… Comedian

   

Loves to play with trucks, cars, trains, and balls… he is all boy.

Movie that he watches over and over and over… Tangled

Foods he loves: Cereal, crackers (fish and chocolate animal crackers),

Favorite song: "Temple" and "Snowman"

Loves to be outside and go bye-bye

Favorite thing to do with Dad: "Timber"

   

   

Introducing… Dylan Parker Rhodes

   

Well, our little man has arrived and we couldn't be more thrilled. Yes, he already has us wrapped around his little finger. I admit this pregnancy flew! I can't believe he is already here.

Dylan Parker finally arrived Wed. Nov. 23, 2011 @ 3:50 am, weighing in at 6 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 or 21 inches long. (I truly do not know which one it is, they told Ryan 21 inches but wrote down 20 inches.)

     

Here is Dylan's story…

When I say "finally arrived", I mean FINALLY arrived. Our little man tried, unsuccessfully, to make his debut for four days. The previous Saturday night I started having contractions. They were fairly intense, and started every five minutes, but they didn't last for a solid minute so we couldn't go in. These contractions continued on through Sunday and Monday night. On Tuesday night, at about 10:00 pm, the contractions started again. This time they came every five minutes and lasted for the solid minute. I remember Ryan kept asking me if I wanted to go to bed? I looked at him as if to say, you do realize that we are counting the contractions and may be headed to the hospital, right? He was convinced that it was another false alarm and that we would be heading over to the hospital the next morning for our induction, just as we had planned. Well, needless to say… for once I was right. At about 12:00 am that night we headed into the hospital. At 12:24 am they placed me in triage to "watch me". I have to admit this was THE WORST time of my life! There was no doubt I was in labor. The contractions didn't let up at all the entire time I was there. I laid on that table in the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced, and they refused to give me any pain killers whatsoever. Finally at 2:00 am they came in and said they would have to call the on call Dr. to see if he would admit me. At that point I was only dilated to a 3, so they were hesitant. Luckily for everyone the Dr. did admit me due to the amount of pain I was in. The nurses got me into a room, gave me the epidural, and told me to just rest because it may be a while. Well, about 20 minutes later my water broke and I was fully dilated. The nurses were shocked at how quickly everything had progressed. They quickly called our Doctor. Dr. Langer and luckily she arrived fairly quickly. At that point, I had to keep from pushing, or that little guy was going to slip right out, Doctor or no Doctor. When she arrived, I pushed through two contractions and out came our little guy. It was literally that fast and that easy. I couldn't have dreamed up an easier delivery.

   

Our little man was born as healthy as could be and without any complications. When they placed him in my arms, my heart melted and I was smitten.

Just a little side note: Can you imagine if they would have sent me home?!? Ryan would have been delivering him. In case you are wondering, Ryan practically faints at any sight of blood. I don't even want to imagine how well that would have turned out!

Dylan's Name:

It took us some time to come up with his name. We went to the hospital with a few names in mind, but I couldn't bring myself to call him by any name before I saw him. Not only that, but Ryan and I were having a really hard time agreeing on what a "good name" actually was. If it were up to him to name the baby it would be something horrible like tanq, or max powers, or something like that. If it were up to me it would be a great name like Ryker, Ryder, Rylan… something like that. Instead we met in the middle and chose between Parker Ryan or Dylan Parker. Obviously, Dylan won. So far, no regrets. I think the name fits him.

Discharged:

It happens to be that Dylan was born on the day prior to Thanksgiving. We had planned on spending Thanksgiving Day in the hospital ever since our induction date was set. It just so happens, though, that everything was going extremely well for the both of us, so we decided that we would head home on Thanksgiving. What a treat that was! We were able to stop by Ryan's family and enjoy a little dinner and family time before heading home. It worked out perfectly!

     

 

We have now had Dylan home for a couple of weeks. All three of us are so happy to have him in our home! Even Cayson is adjusting well. The first day we were home I remember him climbing up on our bed to read Dylan a story. He showed him all the animals, told him what it was, and the sound the animal made. This was such a special moment for me. Throughout this pregnancy, I have been extremely worried that Cayson would feel replaced or left out and that he wouldn't want Dylan in our home. To see Cayson take to Dylan from day one meant the world to me. He is such a good big brother. He already brings Dylan his dog when he is sad, or perhaps a drink of water, or even just a little kiss. I sure do love my boys!

     

     

   

The Big Move

When this year started, we were certain our "BIG MOVE" would be moving to an entirely different home. Obviously, we were naïve. Home prices are still falling and it just doesn't make sense to sell our house right now. So instead of the "BIG MOVE" consisting of a new home, our big move involved moving Cayson down to the basement. As a mother, this was extremely difficult for me. What kind of mother sends their 2 year old to the basement, right? Well, we really didn't have a choice. Cayson is an extremely light sleeper, and we needed the nursery for the new little guy. So it had to be done! I must say though, it ended up a success. Cayson LOVES his new "Cars Room" and was so excited to move into it. I was even able to come to terms with his move after pulling out the baby monitor. Now I can know every night that he is OK… just in case.

 

Cayson in his race car bed.

Cayson's new room…

 

These pictures really didn't fit in with this post, but I thought they were cute and thought I would add them in.

 

Our little stud!

Aren't they handsome?!?

 

Halloween... All Month Long!

I admit I am not a big fan of Halloween. It's not the costumes and dressing up I don't like. I guess I am just odd, and do not care for all the sugar that the holiday entails. This year however, may have changed my mind. Cayson absolutely loved everything about the Holiday. He loved dressing up in his Lion Costume and he loved getting his hands on all those suckers. (Yes, my child passed up full size candy bars when a sucker was involved.) As a parent I enjoyed every minute of watching him absolutely thrilled about his newfound traditions.

Our Halloween celebrating lasted the entire month of October.

Robyn, Grandma Rhodes, and the girls joined us on a visit to The Gardner Village Witch Festival. Since Robyn lives so far away, spending time with them is rare and always a real treat!

All the witches cracked me up. I mean seriously, take a close look at that witch!

The kids loved finding all of them.

I tried to get Brielle to kiss this frog, but she was not having it.

They quickly grew tired…so Brielle and Cayson shared a seat in the stroller

Grandma Rhodes and the kids.

Grandma sure is a trooper!

 

Our other Halloween celebrations…

How can you celebrate Halloween without delicious Halloween sugar cookies, right?!?

Kristyn joined Cayson and I in the festivities.

=

Cayson was in heaven cutting out the ghosts and pumpkins

For family night we decorated the cookies.

I'm pretty sure Cayson spent more time sneaking the toppings and eating them, than putting them on the cookie.  

The Friday before Halloween, Jen and Mason invited us to go Trick-or-Treating at her dad's work. It was perfect!

This is cute Mason in his Halloween costume!

Cayson wouldn't stop long enough to get a picture, so this was at good as it gets.

The boys!

I was surprised that Cayson understood what we were doing and was actually good at just taking one and saying Thank You.

We only hit two of the four floors in the building, and he still walked away with a haul. Spoiled little boy!

Ryan happened to be working afternoons the week before Halloween. So I decided I would make Pumpkin pancakes for breakfast.

They didn't turn out the best, but we still had fun.

On another day my sweet friend Heather humored me and joined Cayson and I at the Halloween party at the Gallivan Center.

We sure loved having her with us!

On Halloween our fabulous Aunt Michele invited us to her work to go Trick-or-Treating.

Of course we had to go!

It just so happens that Ryan works in the building right next to her…

So he was able to leave work and join us.

That night we put Cayson in his costume once again and Daddy took him Trick-or-Treating to a few of the houses in the neighborhood.

I'm not sure who was more excited- Daddy or Cayson.

When they returned we painted a pumpkin…

Well tried too.

With Cayson's attention span it only lasted literally a minute.

The final product…

I think we may have a little artist on our hands.

What do you think?!?

Afterwards Cayson and Daddy settled down on the couch for a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

They were exhausted!