The Dillon Family - Jay, Christy, Michael and Joshua

Update!

2010-01-27T10:27:00.006-05:00

I'm sure you may have noticed I have not been able to get on and post the usual updated pictures of our family. Life has been crazy! In October, after much prayer, Jay stepped down from his role as the Worship Pastor at our church. God has been putting a passion in Jay's heart for awhile to pursue his CPA and work in the business world. I know that Jay will be used in amazing ways to bless the hearts of many business men by telling them about Jesus and demonstrating the love of Christ through friendship and encouragement. He will always have a passion for worship and I feel confident that he will be a part of the worship team in one way or another wherever God may lead us. He has been thrilled that the new worship pastor at our church has invited him to play and sing with him each week and I am loving still having him up there to help lead our church in worship! We sold our house in 16 days (Praise God!) in October and were lovingly welcomed to live in the beautiful basement of some good friends from church's home. This has been amazing and the kids love it there. They have two dogs and Michael calls this season of our lives "Our adventure with the dogs." The kids love greeting the dogs as we pull into the driveway and giving them hugs, kisses and a bone. Right now I am working more (about 2 days a week as opposed to about 2 a month that I was doing) in the Pediatric ICU and really enjoying it. Jay who is the most amazing Daddy is home with our 2 buddies while I work and as much as I miss them I know they are having a blast with him. We are totally trusting that God will open up the door that He wants us to walk through in His perfect timing for Jay's job. We have such peace that He is in control and while Jay applies for job's and interviews, we get excited to think about what God has for us next! Our life together has been such a fun adventure so far with moving to Colorado after being married for 2 months and then coming here to do ministry. We have been blessed with the two most amazing boys and each other and I truly could not ask for anything more. I can't wait to see what He has for us next!

My computer is broken and since Jay is on his laptop quite often doing job application stuff, I haven't been able to post like I would like to. Hopefully this will change soon. I love being able to keep our family and friends up to date with what is going on with us and love hearing from you too!
Michael is 3 and it is such a fun age! He is talking like a little adult and Jay and I laugh daily at the cute things he says. I need to write them all down so I won't forget! We asked him a few months ago what he wanted to be when he grows up. He thought long and hard about it and then told us with much certainty that he wants to be a snowman. When we drive around town he will say the funniest things. We passed a gold car and he told me that he can't wait until he can learn to drive and have a gold car! We will pass a firetruck and he says he can't wait until he can drive his own firetruck. He told me the other day he can't wait to get big when daddy will teach him to play tennis ball, baseball, football, golf ball, soccer ball (and continued to name any ball he could think of!) He loves leading Joshua around the house giving him things to do and suggesting games they play together. He is officially potty trained as of Dec. and doing an awesome job with no accidents! He does still sleep in a diaper at night but wakes up excited to get his "undies" back on. He is very social and loves being with his friends at church. He has a blast with his best buddy Jocelyn. It is so precious how they recognize now that they are older that they are such good friends and get so excited to see each other. They are hilarious together and act like brother and sister (as evidenced yesterday when Michael was found to be sitting on Jocelyn's head at the mall play area and she came up with a cut on her lip and later that day she got him back by hitting him on the head with his play hammer...haha!) As active as he is, Michael loves to snuggle and I cherish my time snuggling beside him reading books or blasting off to the moon together in his darkened room! He has such an imagination. He loves to pray with Jay and I and is starting to ask for specific things we need to pray for. So sweet. He is such a gift and I love him so very much.

Joshua is 20 months now and absolutely adorable! He is copying everything Michael does and is so enamored with his big brother. He is talking a ton too saying things like "watch this" before anything he does. He like his big brother did loves shoes and putting them on and taking them off. The way he says "Michael" is so incredibly cute! He is a great eater which has been so nice since Michael is so picky. He loves the movie "Cars" and talking about Lightning, Mater and Doc. He is so laid back and loves to read. He will run up to me with book after book saying, "book, read!" He loves to cuddle too and will just sit in my lap with his head on my shoulder snuggling up for long periods of time. I love it! He has a smile that lights up the room and the sweetest personality. He is such a precious boy and I am so in love with him. He is definitely a Mama's boy right now which I love :) When I leave the room he follows after me calling, "Mama, Mama!" Our boys love Daddy time though!! They both love riding the "Bucking Bronco" aka Daddy's back and will both lay down asking to be tickled. Joshua is officially done taking a bottle at night and Michael has all but forgotten about his pacifier. They are growing up!

I will do my best to get more cute recent pictures up here! I have so many, I need to either get a new computer or get mine fixed! I hope you are all having a wonderful week! We love you!

Jay and Christy :)

Disney World 2009

2010-01-02T16:03:00.016-05:00

At long last, here are our picture's from our amazing trip to Disney World over Thanksgiving! Jay's dad and step-mom took the entire family to Orlando, FL to experience a week in a beautiful resort and 5 days at the one and only Walt Disney World! We had a blast to say the least. There were 16 of us total (17 with Baby GIRL Dillon!!) It is such a bummer that we all live in different cities so it was such a blessing to be able to all be together as family and have fun. Michael and Joshua loved it! The night we arrived in Orlando (after getting to spend our first night as a family in a hotel... yes we drove! And spending a really fun day and night in Jacksonville with Brian and Megan) our Joshua started throwing up in the car an hour or so before we got there. This needless to say is never a fun thing! Neither of our kids have ever experienced the stomach bug so this was a first for us. We pulled over at a rest stop and Joshua just kept getting sick. We had him in just a diaper in a horribly smelling car seat by the end of it and he continued to get sick until I put him to bed around 8 that night. Michael was sick all night the next night, Jay the entire day of his birthday, Brian and Jeff both caught it and so did Dad Dillon. No fun! Despite this crazy sickness, we really did have so much fun and made memories that will truly last a lifetime. Michael loved getting to spend so much time with his cousins and asks regularly when he can see them again. I feel so incredibly blessed to have this amazing family that I married into. I look so forward to many more fun trips together! So here are quite a few pictures (get ready!) in no particular order. I also have not had time to sit down and edit them so I'm sorry if some pictures are really off center :)

The Hayes family. Jay's step-brother Andy and his beautiful wife Susie with sweet Deanna and Nicole.

On the fairy on the way over to The Magic Kingdom

Minnie Mouse!

Garik "doing" my hair on Thanksgiving

Brian and Mara at Animal Kingdom

Jay's brother Brian and his beautiful wife Megan with little baby girl Dillon at Epcot

Papa and Mimi! Thank you guys for the most amazing trip!!I love this! It looks like Brian is wearing that hat! Standing in line for the Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios.

Getting ready to watch a 3D movie

Aunt Megan was amazing and helped so much with our buddies. Since she was pregnant and couldn't ride several rides, she would watch them while Jay and I rode. Thank you, Megan!!

So excited to meet Mickey Mouse!

Big hugs for Winnie the Pooh

Hollywood Studios after turning on their Christmas lights. It was so beautiful!

One of our first pictures. We are here!!

Right as we arrived a parade started to go by. It was the perfect timing. The kids were in total awe. It was awesome!

Michael being silly with his "leash." I did buy both kids these safety leashes to keep them close. They worked wonders! I would highly recommend these to any parent with two kids 2 and under daring enough to conquer Disney World :) That and a double stroller... lifesavers!

Joshua very excited to be there!

And very worn out in the stroller. So cute!

Loving the leash! (And not loving it at times)

Loving Papa's shoulders. Along with Aunt Megan, the entire family helped us out with the kids SO MUCH! Thank you guys! You saved our backs and our minds at times haha :)

Michael having his nap in the back of the stroller

Little cutie pie eating a pretzel

This was the morning after Michael had been up vomiting all night. He felt terrible and we brought him home shortly after this picture to sleep. This was also Jay's birthday and he was starting to feel sick right around this time. So sad :(

My attempts at keeping the kids hydrated after begin sick. It worried me so much that they were getting dehydrated. Sweet Jay went and got them popsicles and they loved them!

Dad cutting our Thanksgiving turkey! It was delicious!

Sweet Garik is so affectionate and going to be the most amazing daddy one day. He loved loving on our boys. Notice Joshua's very own Thanksgiving dinner :)

One half of our family

The other half!

Mama and her baby boy

Jay and Brian having fun with the kids

Jay with his birthday cake I made him! He couldn't eat anything on his actual birthday so this was one of our deserts on Thanksgiving, the day after. Happy Birthday my love!

The kids love playing with their Papa!

Michael slept next to us on a palate on the floor for the week. This is how I found him one night as Jay and I were going to sleep.

Totally underneath the bed! Hilarious!

Back to his palate :)

Very hard to get both kids to smile for a family picture but here we are on It's A Small World (a definite favorite for the kids!) They also suprisingly loved Pirates of The Carribean!

This was so cute! The baby elephant and it's mama at Animal Kingdom

Another family picture attempt... no good.

Riding the train around Animal Kingdom

The kids loved the petting zoo area there. Joshua brushing the sheep.

Uncle Jeff, Jay's brother, loving on his nephew

Daddy and his little buddy

Waving to Mickey and the rest of the characters in the parade.

More lights at Hollywood Studios

Michael "driving" a car

He loved his Mickey ears Jay got him!

The cousins having fun together

2 Attempted group pictures! I love it!

Jeff, his beautiful wife Cynthia and Garik and Mara in front of the castle

The Hayes in front of the castle

Michael cozying up with cousins Deanna and Mara in bed watching DVD's together. So cute!

Deanna and Nicole :)

Papa with Deanna and Garik

Mimi and Garik

I promise I am trying to get better at blogging! I love the idea of it but our lives have been so crazy the past few months. I will update with Christmas pictures, Michael's 3rd birthday pictures, a few Halloween pictures and even some fun summer vacation pictures soon!

Girl's Weekend in Charlotte!

2009-10-17T13:21:00.003-04:00

In September my sweet mother in law hosted a girl's weekend at her beautiful home in Charlotte. It was a blast!! I have the most amazing mother and sister in laws! We relaxed and ate at some great restaurants, went shopping, were treated to pedicures, enjoyed the hot tub and had great conversation and laughter. Jay was incredible and kept the kids all weekend and I felt like a queen sleeping in a king sized bed and having no responsibility for the first time in a long time :) It was a weekend to remember and I hope we can make this an annual event!

Megan sharing with her mom the extremely exciting news that we all had just found out- she is pregnant!!! We are thrilled for her and my boys and I are loving praying for baby Dillon :)
Relaxing in our massage chairs during our manicure! It was heavenly! We missed you this day, Lauren!
Megan, Cynthia, myself, Lauren and my beautiful mother in law, Debbie!
Cynthia loving a huge piece of Mom's famous ice cream cake that she was served! Don't worry, I definitely finished off several pieces this size and bigger... yum yum!
Enjoying a fun picnic on the lake! Mom made this picnic gourmet with pannini sandwiches :)

Hot tub time!!
One of our delicious meals!!
All the sister in laws after church

My Sneaky Boy

2009-10-14T22:30:00.005-04:00

Lately we have been having trouble keeping Michael in his room in the mornings. He wakes up and comes into our room wanting to snuggle in bed with us. This is no problem at all, in fact we love it, as long as it after 7 or so :) Around 2 am the night before last he woke up and thinking it was later and insisted on wanting to be in bed with us. I really don't want to make that a habit so, with Jay, we worked to get him back to sleep in his bed. So this morning, I think he was a little hesitant to not come into our room too early due to the last night's events (much crying and some firm insisting that it was still the middle of the night and he needed to stay in his room). He snuck into our room, grabbed my purse off of the floor (where I never should have left it!) and brought it out into the hall. Around 9 (yes, we are a family that does love to sleep in from time to time!) Jay and I woke up thinking Michael was being too quiet. We went out into the hall and he had my lipstick all around his mouth and told us that he had eaten the rest of my red gum and it was so good (about 1/3 a pack of Big Red!) So anyways, we got a good laugh out of that and warned him he may have a tummy ache. Lesson learned not to leave anything on the floor that I don't want Michael exploring through! This is such a fun age. Something hilarious is said or done every day by this inquisitive 2 year old and his baby brother is right behind him wanting to be like big brother! So cute :) I am so in love with my 3 boys...

One Year Bible

2009-10-12T10:05:00.002-04:00

Right now I am going through the one year Bible with The Message version. I love it because it allows the scripture to come alive in a different way. I love the way it is written. I also love to follow along with it with my NIV and NKJV Bibles. I think I may start putting a few verses from the day that speak to me up here on the Blog :) The Word is such a powerful tool God gives us for walking this life out here on earth. Any answer to any problem can be found right in His Word! It is just as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago. Amazing! Anyways, this is what really touched me today:

"Worship God in adoring embrace, celebrate in trembling awe, Kiss Messiah!"

-Psalm 2:10

I love how descriptive this is. We are to worship our God in adoring embrace (much like we love our husbands but MORE!) We are to celebrate Him in trembling awe. We are to offer up our praises like kisses to our Lord. I love it! Lord, help my worship to You be even more undignified than this!

And because it is hard for me to make a post without pictures, here are Michael and Joshua at the same age :) 16 months!

Our Joshua
Michael Caleb

Michael's Miracle

2009-10-10T15:58:00.009-04:00

The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.
We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,
on him, on him.

Isaiah 53:2-6 The Message

In August, Michael was diagnosed by our pediatrician with a cholesteatoma. This is basically a growth in the middle ear that if not surgically removed will continue to grow and can cause a lot of problems including hearing loss. He had a CT scan done to determine how deep the growth went into his head and the Dr. was unable to determine if what he saw was additional growth or just fluid. We prayed and had many prayer warriors lifting our boy up to the One who truly heals! We were so blessed to have my sister, Sara, and my parents come for the week to support us. We were also humbled by the many people who prayed for Michael and came up to the hospital to pray for him there, sit with us during surgery and come by and visit afterwards. He went in for surgery September 16th. He did great and afterwards our doctor came out and was marveled at what he had seen. On Friday when Michael had the CT scan, the growth had been attached securely to his eardrum. When he went in to operate, the growth had completely detached itself and was just sitting there in his inner ear. All the doctor had to do was take it out instead of the "drilling" he had warned us he was probably going to have to do to get it all out. We asked him if he had ever seen that happen before and he said that no he had not seen it in his entire career! He also said he had no explanation. We know we do!! Our great God protected our precious boy and did a miracle. We feel strongly that God has amazing things planned for both of our boys. This is the second miraculous healing God has done in our Michael. When I was pregnant with him, a very irregular heartbeat was detected and after Jay laid his hands on my very pregnant belly and we asked God for His healing touch, the irregular heart beat went away completely! In fact, we went and saw a pediatric cardiologist who did an echo cardiogram on Michael's heart around 34 weeks and she said he had a "perfect heart!" So please join with us in praising God for being our healer. He is so good and so powerful and loves us so deeply. It is just amazing! Here are some pictures from surgery week :)

Aunt Sara came to visit us Sunday night after work and we had so much fun together before surgery! We took her to some of our favorite places like World's Fair Park and Market Square for lunch.
Fun with Michael in the fountains

The night before surgery we got us a HUGE pizza from Snappy Tomato! Yum Yum!
My beautiful family :)
On the way to the hospital. Michael did not let go of his new suitcase from Ama and Papa and his "Maisy goes to the Hospital" library book

With Mommy and Daddy waiting before surgery

Snuggling with his "Bear." I will always treasure these pictures with his bear. It is his favorite comfort item.

After taking his Versed (sedative) he was starting to get sleepy. This was about when Pastor Jaime came to pray for him and he kept saying "Amen, Amen" in agreement all throughout the prayer. It was hilarious and so cute to see him so loopy. Our dear friend Paul Eakle also came to pray for him during this time and got to see this very rare loopy side of Michael Caleb.
And he is out :)
Right after surgery. I will never forget how he looked when they wheeled him back to us. He was sitting up in the bed with his eyes half open so out of it. It broke my heart!! He slept for a while before waking up very upset to discover his IV ("Take it out!!" He screamed about his "special juice tube") and his "headband."

Sips of juice from Daddy

Jay was getting tired of all the pictures here I think :)

Our little family (My sweet Dad stayed home all day to take care of Joshua. He is such an awesome grandpa and got to really bond with our little guy.)
Asleep with the Popsicle in his hand :)
Sleeping on the pull out couch for parents after he had thrown up all over his bed. Poor guy had a lot of trouble holding food and drinks down. After some IV Zofran and a couple of hours, we were able to go home at 10:00 PM.
Papa and his boys :)

A break from blogging ??

2009-09-27T22:32:00.003-04:00

The kids playing at Chick-fil-A :) They have so much fun together. I have so many great pictures to post but am too tired tonight!
I have been taking a break lately from blogging. I am trying to find out what my blogging identity is I guess, haha! I love reading other people's blogs and hearing about what the Lord is teaching them, the fun things they do with their kids, looking at their sweet pictures, etc... Lately we have had so much going on I haven't really had much time to blog but I miss it and would love to possibly share more of our life in words through this blog. God has been doing so much and has recently done a great miracle in our Michael. Sometimes I wonder though if anybody even looks at this blog (haha) and if my time spent writing and putting pictures up is worth it. I can't decide. What should I do? If anyone is out there looking at our little family blog, I would love some feedback on if I should keep blogging or not. :) Thanks!

My two boys...

2009-08-06T20:37:00.001-04:00

Both at almost 14 months! :) Do you think they look alike?

Joshua
Michael

Cell Phone Pictures

2009-08-02T20:12:00.005-04:00

The same day I found out how to upload cell phone video's, I figured out how to put up pictures too. Here are a few cute ones from the past year or two :)

It turns out Joshua has a hypersensitivity to mosquito bites! Check out his poor swollen ear and temple by his ear. We had a few family dinners out on the back porch and let the kids play in the yard. This was what happened afterwards! It didn't' seem to bother him but I was worried enough to pull a good family friend who is a doctor out of church Sun. morning to check it out! My sweet sensitive skinned baby :)
Our nightly ritual... Michael brushing his teeth seen here sporting his Spiderman PJ's (or jammies as we call them here!)
If I can't find Joshua, this is the first place I look! He loves to crawl under the computer desk and perch on top of our printer! Silly boy!
Joshua as a newborn
Joshua in the hospital right after his birth
Kisses from big brother the day we brought him home!
Swinging!
These boys are best buddies :)
Michael about a year and a half ago posing at the pediatrician's office
Love, love this one!! Michael at about Joshua's age at Walmart. He wore this thing on his head the whole trip laughing the entire time!
Daddy and Michael about a year and a half ago

Cell Phone Video!

2009-07-30T11:37:00.005-04:00

I finally figured out how to send pictures and video from my cell phone to the computer! So here are a few of my favorite video's of the kids :) Sorry they are pretty blurry. The first one is Michael making Joshua laugh at the kitchen table by placing "peek a boo." The second one is Michael tickling Joshua. The third is of the kids swinging at the park and the last one was taken about a year ago of Michael worshiping! That is one of my all time favorites!

Another new post below!

How He loves us!

2009-07-30T11:04:00.002-04:00

I wanted to share two amazing songs that I love to play over and over in my house throughout the day as the boys and I do our thing :) They are so uplifting and remind me of how great my Father's love is for me and how I truly do surrender all to Him. I encourage you to listen!

"What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it- we're called children of God!"

-1 John 3:1 (The Message)

First Kiss!

2009-07-19T14:52:00.001-04:00

What more is there to say? Is this not so cute!! Jennifer and I agreed that if Michael and Jocelyn do indeed get married one day, we will have PLENTY of footage for a great slide show at their rehearsal dinner!

April trip to Birmingham!

2009-07-19T14:26:00.007-04:00

I am pretty behind on updating our Blog but here are some cute pictures from my trip to Birmingham in April! I figured since I am going to be headed down for another visit very soon, it was about time to put these up! The boys and I went while Jay had to stay and work. We had so much fun with "Ama" and "Papa" and Aunt Sara and Uncle Drew! We had a picnic at the park and enjoyed catching up with each other!

Ama swinging her Joshua
Michael having fun!

Mama and her boys!
My little Ladies Man!
Ready for a stroll
Fun at another park! Don't you just love how I match the dinosaur!? ha
Aunt Sara and Michael going down the slide! (I don't think Michael was in the mood to have his picture taken!)
Getting a little more excited...
My beautiful Mama and Aunt Marilyn with Joshie
Sisters :)

Having fun playing with a neighborhood puppy
Michael loved the bigger dog. We will have to get a dog one day!
Georgeous sisters!

Laughter :)

2009-06-24T21:35:00.008-04:00

"Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy!" -Psalm 126:2

We have a lot of laughter around here with these two boys! I am so behind on blogging and have pictures from April to catch up on but tonight wanted to share a glimpse of our laughter the past week or so (even with two very sick boys!) God is so good I can't help but praise Him and laugh and sing songs of joy!

Michael's new haircut! His too cute temporary Mohawk!
Bedtime fun!
Laughing at Michael making his silly faces (a few pictures down!)
I just love this picture... it truly captures what our family time looks like most of the time... lots of fun and laughter
Michael's silly face! (He loves to make us laugh!)
Two handsome boys!

This was right after I fed Joshua eggs for the first time... what do you think? Possible egg allergy? I think so! Luckily his face was the only thing affected!
Happy Father's Day, sweetheart!! I am so very blessed to be married to the love of my life, my best friend, the most amazing father to our babies. He gives 100% of himself every day and works so hard for our family. He is so hands on and is always blessing me by helping in any and every area: the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, feeding, changing, bathing, anything regarding the kids, making sure I have "us" and then also "me" time, encouraging me, etc... I could go on and on. His boys absolutely adore him and so do I! He is the best and I am so thankful for him! I love you, sweetheart!!! I also am very blessed with the most amazing Daddy ever! Happy Father's Day sweet Dad!!
Attempted picture of the guys!
I love the look on Joshua's face here... he is so excited!
Standing up all by himself!
Joshua loves some Mac and Cheese!
Silly faces at dinner time
Joshua loving it :)

And lastly, some funny positions I have found Michael asleep in the past few weeks!
Sweet boy :)
Yes, he does nap in his pack n play. I gave up on trying to keep him in his bed for over an hour when all I have to do is lay him in the pack n play and he naps for 2 good hours until I have to go wake him up. Makes life a little easier!
This was taken around midnight. How funny!
I love watching these boys together... sharing Joshua's puffs

The difference a year makes...

2009-06-14T22:41:00.002-04:00

Just reminiscing... Here is Joshua last June (I love his sleepy smiles.. this is at 3 days old.)

And a year later!
And my Michael last June after swimming at the pool...
And this year having fun playing at The Cove in the lake!
The years are going by too fast.... Slow down!

Happy 1st Birthday, Baby Boy :)

2009-06-10T20:42:00.006-04:00

The clock just hit 8:41, the exact time my precious Joshua David entered the world one year ago. (When I started this post anyways!) I am so thankful for him today, and everyday. He is such a joy in our lives. He is truly the happiest baby I have ever known and never stops smiling. His grin will never cease to bring a smile to your own face too :) He loves life, his big brother, trying to walk, standing on his own, eating, nursing, sleeping, being cuddled and being sung to. Thank you, Jesus, for an amazing year with our most precious Joshie!

P.S. Many more fun pictures from his little party and today coming tomorrow. Blogger picture up loader is going way too slow and I am tired :) They are up on my Facebook though!

Playing catch up: The end of April

2009-05-31T20:38:00.008-04:00

I have so much catching up to do on our blog! For some reason I have felt extra busy these past few weeks and also have felt the need to step away from the blog world some and focus that time on the Lord :) We have had an amazing past few weeks though with many fun pictures that will come soon. Jay and I got to go to the Coldplay and Hillsong United concerts, I had some wonderful time with my family about a month ago in Birmingham and we have had a blast at several birthday parties of our friend's kids. We went to Memphis after Jay's precious Grandpa Dillon passed away and got to spend some really special time with his family. Jay and I celebrated 4 years on the 28th of May and Joshua is going to be turning 1 on June 10th!! I can't believe how much has changed in 4 years and how very blessed we are as a family. I am humbled each day to wake up to such an incredible husband who loves the Lord, myself and our boys unconditionally and truly lives his life to serve me, encourage me, provide for our family and makes me laugh all the time! And just looking at my two precious boys who I love more than life itself brings me to tears. More than anything though I feel the incredible joy in having a Savior who died so that I can have a relationship with Him and spend eternity with Him. He loves me and gives me the strength and wisdom required to be a wife, mommy, friend, daughter, sister, etc.. and I will praise Him all my days!! I will praise Him just for being Him, my awesome and all powerful God.

Family night at 5 Guys Burger and Fries (our favorite burger place here!)
Mama and her boy
First taste of ice cream! He loved it!!
Wanting more!
This speaks for itself... Michael also loves ice cream! Hey, who doesn't?!
Another thing Michael loves... all of the fountains!!

I love this picture... my little guys and their cute booties!!
Reese's 3rd Birthday party!

Yes, Michael is wearing a headband! And yes, he did wear it the entire party!! He is so funny! I told him after that girls wear headbands but he is boy enough to not let it embarrass him! haha :)
He loved the chocolate cupcakes!
Joshua watching all the fun and having some himself with this ball
All tuckered out at the end of the party. So sweet :)

What Jennifer and I do at all the parties and play dates! :) Take lots of pictures of our cute kids!
And what the men do... :) Stand aside and talk!
These two sure have fun together!
Michael pouring water on poor Jocelyn!
I am in love...
I love this little guy so much... he makes me smile all the time :)
First time this year to pull the pool out!

Coldplay!!

2009-05-24T15:00:00.003-04:00

Last week Jay and I got to go to a Coldplay concert in Birmingham!! We had a blast! My awesome parents watched the boys and we even got a dinner date before! We felt young again...haha! A few months ago we made a spontaneous decision to get tickets because we had always wanted to see them live and we are so glad we did! It was a great time and great to see my family too.

Before the show!

Chris Martin!

It ended up getting down to around 45 degrees this night so I was so glad Sara had some jackets she had left at my parents house! It was a lifesaver!

A Night with My Boys

2009-05-15T20:16:00.006-04:00

Tonight I had a night with my little boys. We had so much fun together just playing and being silly. It was raining really hard outside and I had my computer playing worship music and we just played and danced. It was a sweet time :)

My handsome boys watching it rain. Michael insisted on being "naked"! He loves to run around in just his diaper!
Being silly with my boy. I asked him to make his silly faces and this is what he did...

Ha ha gotta love this one!

Playing along with the music just like daddy
I love these boys!!
And they love each other!!
Joshua ready to be done with this hug from big brother!
They were crawling side by side all throughout the house. It was pretty funny to watch!

Last Month We...

2009-05-14T20:53:00.004-04:00

Had lots of fun with Jocelyn and Jennifer at the park! These two were so cute holding hands as we walked back to our cars :)

Cute little red cheeks after playing!

Goodbye hugs!! So sweet!
We went and watched daddy play in his soccer game and got to hang out with Luke and Jessica while he watched his daddy play too.
The kids always bring their own soccer balls and have a blast chasing after them while they cheer for their daddies!
We had special time with just mommy at the park!
Michael had more fun watching this tractor mow the grass than playing on the playground!! He was mesmerized :)

He told me he was playing "twinkle, twinkle little star," his current favorite song along with "Jesus loves me" and "the Michael song" which is a rendition of a song my dad made up for me. He loves to sing and play the piano. I wouldn't be surprised if he is musical just like his daddy one day :)

More fun things from last month coming soon...

Cutie Pie's!

2009-05-12T22:15:00.004-04:00

How cute are these three?! The piano is a big hit at our house! Michael plays it almost every day and when kids come over they love it! Here is Michael with two of his very best buddies Luke and Jocelyn. They have so much fun together and I sure am blessed to have their mama's in my life!!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T20:43:00.004-04:00

Happy Mothers Day! I feel blessed beyond words to have my two precious baby boys. I know that being a mommy is a priceless gift and I thank my Jesus for allowing me the privelege of raising these boys to know and love Him and others.

Me and my boys today :) They and their incredible Daddy, my sweetheart, Jay, blessed me with sweet cards and a pretty Vera Bradley wallet. Jay cooked me a wonderful dinner and bathed and put Michael down to bed. So sweet! Unfortunately my Joshie has had a 103 temperature all weekend. I'm pretty sure that through this past week of the boys being sick (yes, again!) he has developed an ear infection so we are off to the doctor first thing in the am.
My beautiful Mom and I. I am so incredibly thankful for the amazing and Godly woman and Mom that she is and has always been to me. I feel so blessed that God chose her to be my mom. She has always given 100% of herself to be a mom to my sister and I and is the most unselfish, loving, kind and compassionate person I know. She is not only my Mom but also a best friend. She taught me by example how to be the best mom possible to my precious boys. Thank you Mama for your constant love and commitment to being the most amazing Mom. I love you, Mama!

Jay and his beautiful Mom. I feel so blessed to have this incredible mother in law. She loves Jesus with everything in her and has done the most wonderful job raising her 5 children. She had much to do in shaping the man that Jay is today and for that I am so very thankful. I have loved getting to know my sweet mother in law over the past 5 years and look so forward to our time together in the future. Thank you, Mom, for who you are and for working so hard to raise an awesome son who is the best husband and daddy to our boys that I could ever imagine! I love you!

Family Time :)

2009-05-06T23:29:00.006-04:00

Family time is the best! Here we are at Red Robbin (So excited they built one here!!) The boys behaved really well at this meal so Jay and I got to really enjoy talking to each other which was fun and doesn't always get to happen when we go out to eat.. haha! I am working on posting pictures from Sara's wedding so stay tuned!

My handsome and most amazing hubby.... I am so blessed!
Michael begged to see this fountain across the street from the infamous Red Robbin

By the way... both of my boys are sick again!! We had one week of being healthy where we got to take a spontaneous trip to visit my family (pictures to come soon) and this week sure enough both have very runny noses, are acting understandably crabby and Michael is coughing. When will it end?!

Sick again...

2009-04-21T11:45:00.002-04:00

I finally thought we were all healthy again and Sunday I had to take the kids home from church early because Michael wouldn't stop crying in his classroom which is extremely unlike him. It turns out he has a really bad ear infection and is taking 10 MORE days of antibiotic and ear drops. Poor guy. Here he is after church cuddling and napping with his exhausted and amazing daddy.

So sweet

Feeling better and loving the weather

2009-04-18T22:14:00.002-04:00

Joshua is feeling so much better so thank you so much for your prayers. I have no doubt the Lord heard them as Joshua is finally back to his old self! His fever got really high (104) Tuesday night and I brought him back in on Wed. and he had additional blood work and another chest x ray done. The dr. said his lungs actually looked a lot better and his white blood cell count was starting to come down. Thursday he felt better with fewer fevers and Friday he was ready to play outside some :) The warm weather has been so beautiful here and I am so thankful it is finally here!

Having fun in the swing! Michael loves to push his brother!
I think we may have a future baseball player in our family! He loves playing with his t-ball set and actually makes really good contact with the ball and hits it really far! Good job, buddy!

Two Posts in One Day: Easter Sunday and Pneumonia

2009-04-14T16:28:00.001-04:00

Yes, it is true, this little angel has pneumonia. He has had a bad cold on and off for quite awhile now (actually it feels like both my boys have been sick since the first of Jan... ) but anyways I took him in around March 16th and he had an ear infection. We took 10 days of antibiotics for that and when we went in for a re check the infection was gone. He could not get rid of this cough though so we took him back in yesterday and after doing blood work and a chest x ray it was confirmed that he has pneumonia. This is my sweet boy right after I had taken a temperature that read 103.2.

But typical of my Joshua, this was not going to keep him from being his smiley self!!

Easter Sunday (Get ready for a lot of pictures!!)

2009-04-14T14:45:00.012-04:00

I hope you and your family had an amazing Easter Sunday celebrating what our incredible Jesus did for us! We had a great morning worshiping Him at church. I actually taught the 3-5 year olds which was fun but Jay said worship and Pastor Jaime's message was great and I am looking forward to listening to it on the Internet here: http://www.mountainridgechurch.com/

After church we had an Easter egg hunt for the kids and Michael had a blast this year running after the eggs with his little basket!

The Dillon Family Easter 2009

Easter 2008 ~6 months pregnant with Joshua (We have grown! I wonder what next Easter will look like! haha!)
Daddy with the kids right before the Easter egg hunt
They were rearing to go!
Jocelyn was one of the first out! Doesn't she look so pretty?
Here comes Michael!!
Daddy helping lead the way
I thought this was funny... Jay helping Joshua pick up an Easter egg while Michael cheers him on!
Crossing paths (It looks like Michael is checking out how many she has!)

Best buddies :)
"I found one, Mommy!"
My sweet Joshua wasn't feeling very good but he sure looked cute!
Mama and her boys
Jennifer, Christa and I with our kiddos (Michael was off looking for eggs and I think we were standing in a bad shadow... sorry girls! I hope Chris got some better shots!)
Last year Christa, myself and Jennifer! It's fun to compare :) Check out my preggo belly!
Jay snapping away
Michael looked so handsome in his Easter outfit that his Nan gave to him when he was just a baby. It was very exciting to finally be able to put him in it! Everyone loved it! :) Thanks, Nan!

Showing Joshua what he has found
And now telling him where he is headed to find more!
Kisses before he is off
Leaving one happy baby brother :)
Watching big brother go!
And he is running!

The beautiful Fulmer family
My baby boy right before we left... he was very ready to get home and get into his crib for a long nap!
Michael chewing on some candy

When we got home I surprised the boys with another photo shoot! haha, They loved it!

I love these pictures of the boys by the tulips. They are so intrigued with them.

Later in the afternoon doing our Easter baskets! I didn't get a picture of the ones I gave the boys and Joshua bless his heart was asleep by 6 so he didn't participate but here Michael is loving his basket from Nan! (He also got some sweet goodies and cards from Grandma and Mimi, thanks guys you are all the best and we love you!)
Yay for bubble bath!

Pictures from our life the last few weeks

2009-04-11T21:31:00.008-04:00

I love watching these boys together :) Michael is such the big brother now always bringing new toys to Joshua (as well as taking them away!) and asking me if he is ok when he cries. He asks for him when he is napping and loves to give him hugs and kisses. Tonight at dinner Joshua was fussing and Michael looks at him and says, "calm down, Joshua." They make us laugh every day!

One of Michael's favorite things to do: push Joshua's stroller on walks around the block. As you could guess this takes quite a while so I usually opt for the double stroller!
When he pushes him he stops every 20 or so feet to "check on my brother, Mommy." So cute!
Our neighborhood in the spring... so pretty!
"Mom, what toy should I play with next?"
Another one of Michael's favorite things to do: go get Joshua up from naps! The boys both get really excited during this time and Michael loves to jump into Joshie's crib and love on him. Lots of sweet giggles and cuddles.
Getting excited!
My handsome hubby working in the yard... oh how I love him :)
Fun in the yard together...

Michael loves helping his daddy

Handsome boy :)
He fell asleep on the way to get ice cream with his sunglasses on his head, haha
Joshua is excited about the ice cream though!
I was excited about it too!
We love to play in the backyard

Our backyard in the spring. These Bradford Pear trees are so beautiful and are totally white for a few weeks. Michael thinks it's snowing when the buds drop off. They are all green now but were so pretty while they lasted.

Michael sharing his "brown doggie" with brother
He was very excited! Nobody makes him smile like Michael does!
Precious boy
I was trying to do a photo shoot of Joshua but it wasn't working!

My precious first born :)
Sweet James was being so gentle with Joshua
I have so many awesome pictures to add from Sara's wedding... coming soon!

Sick kids last Sunday :(

2009-04-09T14:52:00.006-04:00

Last Sunday my boys were still sick and so was sweet Jocelyn so I had fun keeping her while Jennifer was able to be on stage helping my hubby lead worship! The kids are so cute together and had a lot of fun despite their runny noses and my boys coughs!

One of their favorite things to do...

Buddies :)
Having fun in the playroom... I love watching these two together, they are so cute!
Michael being silly (I promise, Jennifer, he wasn't hurting her! Although I'm not sure she knew quite what to think of this!)
Reading their books

Dancing to The Wiggles! (Look at Jocelyn dancing with Winnie the Pooh...so sweet!)
Yes, these kids were sick, I promise! We did take advantage of the beautiful weather though and spent some good time outside getting nice and muddy from the last night's rain!

Smelling the flowers
This makes me excited to have 3 kids one day! Seriously, they all did so well. You just line them up and they are good to go!
Later that afternoon I enjoyed taking the boys on a walk. I am so ready for the weather to stay nice and warm like it was this day!
Joshua is walking all down the furniture. He is ready to take off any day now!
My awesome hubby surprised me with these pretty flowers he picked from our yard and a sweet note :) I love him so much!

Family Night

2009-04-04T21:00:00.003-04:00

Tonight we had our family date night at Calhoun's! Our waitress called us brave and told us we had our hands full. It's so funny, almost everywhere I go strangers tell me I have my hands full. I guess I really do but I just love my job as a mommy so much I don't ever really think of it that way. My boys just make life busy and fun and I love (almost) every minute of it! It will be funny to hear what people have to say when we are bringing three out to dinner or to Walmart when we add another addition to the fam! Anyways, we had a lot of fun and the kids behaved really well. We only had one small incident when Joshua swallowed a french fry (yes, I will give him almost anything to keep him happy at a dinner out!) the wrong way and up came all of the cereal I had just fed him all over his pants. Luckily it has been a really pretty day today and he didn't really need them and he just smiled through it all! We had ice cream for desert and it was a great family date night with my amazing family! :)

Michael's chicken tenders came in this cute little car! He loved it!

Oh and we gave Michael a much needed hair cut today!! It is short but it grows really fast. It had fallen into his eyes. I think he looks very handsome :)

Life is beautiful

2009-04-02T22:40:00.000-04:00

Something new everyday!

2009-04-01T22:05:00.005-04:00

The other morning I heard Michael start fussing over the monitor. I went into his room and found him exactly like this:

He had emptied both of the bottom drawers in his dresser completely and somehow climbed into the 2nd drawer and could not get out! Silly boy!

This little man surprised me a few weeks ago with this: (and yes, those marks on the crib rail are Michael's teeth marks from when he got teeth!)

Jay actually took this picture when he went to get Joshua up from a nap and found him standing in his crib so proud of himself! It is so fun to see Joshua crawling quickly around the house and pulling up to standing on everything he can find! It won't be long before my baby is walking!

The shirt Joshua is wearing here is actually a shirt I used to dress my doll's in when I was little! Growing up I had 2 dolls that I took with me everywhere. They were named Joey and Billy and to me they were real. God must have known the desire of my heart because now I have my two precious boys!

Sara got married!!!

2009-03-30T22:48:00.003-04:00

My amazing sister and best friend, Sara, got married this past Saturday night. She looked so incredibly beautiful and the wedding was just perfect and so much fun. I went home Tues. night and we got back this afternoon. It was wonderful getting to spend so much time with her and my family. More pictures will be coming soon but I couldn't hold in my excitement for her tonight! She and Drew are in Hawaii and I am so jealous and so happy for them! Congratulations you guys!! God is going to do awesome things through you together!

My boys in their orange!

2009-03-23T23:47:00.003-04:00

Joshua discovering the grass the other day :) It was the first time he had actually crawled around on it and he loved it. He was even trying to eat it... haha

Loving life
The art of a jump:
Checking his positioning...
Giving me the "mom, is it ok?" look
Ready for take off
And there he goes!
And the landing
Very proud of himself :)

Please Pray!

2009-03-23T13:15:00.003-04:00

Please join me in praying for McMama's precious baby Stellen who is in the Pediatric ICU having heart problems. He was miraculously healed in utero from a fatal heart condition and was brought to the hospital last night and his heart is stuck in SVT (a very fast rhythm). This is life threatening. Here is her blog if you don't already follow it. http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Build A Bear time!

2009-03-19T21:35:00.004-04:00

We had our family night Monday night and took the kids to the mall for Michael to make his very first build a bear! We had gotten a gift card from some sweet friends for a build a bear at Michael's first birthday and decided to save it until he could really enjoy it. That he did! He had a blast picking out his animal and running around the store.

Hugging one of his choices...

Leading Daddy to what he wanted to look at next
Will it be brown bear?
Or the frog?
Or the monkey?
Or the turtle? We will have to see...
Picking out his heart
And rubbing it to life!
Giving his bear a bath
And hugging his brown "football" bear (I promise he truly is thrilled! Just getting tired!)
Now for the tired two year old moment :)
And happy again... strolling brown bear through the mall (yes, he had to have the stroller. He loves playing with his friend Jocelyn and Anna's strollers! At least it is boy colors!)
Daddy and Michael with their strollers

Ending the night with our favorite...Chick fil A! This is the point where a security guard came and informed us that it is illegal to take pictures in the mall. Who knew? At least we got to record a good bit of our fun family build a bear night :)

My Joshua

2009-03-18T14:25:00.002-04:00

I am in love with my family. There is no other way to put it; they light up my life! I feel so amazingly blessed to have my sweetheart husband who is my very best friend and my two precious boys. Joshua is growing and changing so much these days. Here he is in his first warm weather outfit this year looking so handsome!

And this was a new sight too! I found him up on his knees when I went to get him from his crib after his nap today. He has been a little slower than Michael was in crawling and standing, etc.. and I love that because it feels like I get to keep him as a baby longer. But today he surprised me by greeting me up on his knees so proud and so cute :)

Ok, I'll admit it...

2009-03-17T15:50:00.002-04:00

I do let my 2 year old sleep in his car seat in the garage after he has fallen asleep on the way home from running errands. And as you can see from the picture, I also let him eat lunch on his "tray" that he loves that clips onto his seat. Yep, I try to make my life as stress free as possible :) It's what you've gotta do!

Monitor strategically placed in van so when he wakes up I can hear him right away and he won't get scared!
Oh and by the way, my sweet Michael now tells me he loves me without any prompting by me! It is the most wonderful thing in the world :) Tonight he walks into the kitchen and without me saying anything says, "I love you Mommy". It's the best! He also says other super cute things like, "what's going on?" and "what are you doing?" and when I sneak upstairs to check my email, "where are you, Mommy?" So fun! Also Joshua is technically crawling now after doing his version of the army crawl for a month or so. We are so proud of him!!

First Professional Pictures!

2009-03-16T10:56:00.003-04:00

We had our very first professional pictures taken back in January! They turned out really cute so I wanted to share!

Help!

2009-03-14T23:56:00.002-04:00

I cannot keep this sweet boy in his bed! Here is how I found him when he FINALLY fell asleep yet again on the floor at 11pm tonight. He was put to bed around 7:45 and has a great and consistent bedtime routine. We have tried everything from Supernanny's routine to lying next to him until he falls asleep and don't know what to do! Oh well, he is a healthy and happy boy and for that I praise my Jesus!

Notice how he lines up his lego's and his books. I found him reading his books to his stuffed animals in his bed about 30 minutes before this last shot. He is so cute and so much fun. If only we could figure out how to keep him in bed! I did unplug the lamp that he can turn on himself... hopefully that will help. I think tomorrow we are going to be removing all the toys as well. We will see!

Skipping Rocks With Daddy

2009-03-14T23:37:00.002-04:00

The weather was so beautiful last week so we took the kids to our favorite park here. Michael had so much fun trying to skip rocks with his daddy. Joshua also had a blast swinging for the very first time! I wish you could see his sweet smile but my camera battery died right after this last picture of Michael with his rocks. Sad! We had the boys swinging side by side and the cutest park was how happy it made Michael to hear Joshua laughing. He kept saying, "Joshua laughing!" and it was making him laugh. I love how they love each other :)

Michael loves rocks!
Handing a rock to Daddy

Springtime Fun!

2009-03-09T15:56:00.007-04:00

Joshua's first time eating lasagna!! He loved it!

I love how he sucks his fingers :) It's so cute!
Michael contemplating eating his lasagna (did I mention he is a picky eater? haha!)

Jay found Michael like this last night and went to find the camera. It was so cute I went to peek in on Michael around 9 (his bedtime is 7:30) and he had turned his lamp on and was sitting in bed flipping through one of his favorite books. He is like his mama, he loves to read! It was actually funny because he knows he is not supposed to get out of bed so he was in bed reading. Apparently he forgot the rules though because he was found like this, surrounded by his books!

The weather has been so beautiful the last few days so we have had some fun family outings! We went and got ice cream and Michael got his own cup of chocolate which you can tell by the pictures he LOVED!!
Joshua taking a bite of my cone. He is trying a little bit of everything these days :) I am determined to make him a better eater than Michael is by letting him try everything early! I was very over protective with Michael and picky about what I let go into his mouth and to this day, he is so very picky!
Reaching for Mama's ice cream!
My boys :)

I took the boys to the park Sat. while Jay was at our church's Encounter retreat. We had so much fun! I had Joshua in his sling and Michael had a blast going up and down the slide all by himself! We also took the kids to the park together today and Joshua got to swing for the very first time! He loved it and I was so sad because I went to take pictures and my camera battery had died!!
Big boy!
He loves playing with sticks!

Loving it!
Ready to get out!

Another visit to the doctor... the kids have been sick for what seems like almost 3 months straight! This time it was bad colds for both. I was worried Michael had an ear infection but luckily he didn't! It is quite an adventure bringing both kids to the doctor. Our nurse is really sweet and laughs at me coming in with my big double stroller! I'm telling you what though, its the only way to do it!

A glimpse into my life with my three boys :)

2009-03-04T20:37:00.022-05:00

Joshua's very first time to ride in the cart! Now I know at almost 9 months this may seem a little late but with two little ones, all of my grocery trips I have either had Joshua in his sling or in his car seat in the back of the cart so that Michael could ride up front! He absolutely loved it though and Jay took off with Michael to grab a few things so while I had Joshua people were just gushing over him. It reminded me of my days with just Michael! I think it is so special to get one on one time with each child when you have more than one :) By the way, Joshua started saying "mama" today! About a month ago he started to say "dada" so this is very exciting to me! He also cut his first tooth Feb 28th! Yay :)

"Can I ride up here more often, Mom?!"
This is what most nights or time with Daddy look like :) They both love being tickled! When Joshua is getting his turn, Michael lies down next to him and says, "my turn, Daddy, I want a tickle!" It's so cute!

Joshua loving it!
I could not be more blessed :)

I love bath time! I don't have any set schedule for baths. When the boys start getting bored or Michael starts getting too wound up, I'll say, "let's go get a bath!" They both love it and I love sitting and letting them play. I bought this bubble bath today at Walmart and they loved it!
All clean!

Sweet Michael likes to play until the very last drop of water leaves the tub. I get him out and wrap him in a big towel and he gives me big hugs :) He is always a little cold though from playing till the last second and because of his skin tone, this leaves him looking a little blue!
Yes, my two year old loves to jump naked on his bed! Haha, I bet he is not the only two year old who loves to do this!
Flips over his side rail
And my favorite... Joshua picking up Michael's paci off the floor and putting it right in his mouth... yuck!
Another incident of our buddy falling asleep right by the door. This is right as he is waking up.
And about 20 minutes later still pretty upset. Probably a combination of waking up with a sore back and being 2!
Fun play dates at the mall play area with my mom's group! Sweet Jocelyn loves to cuddle with "baby" Joshua.
And hug him! Cute Hayden smiling :)
So fun on a cold winter day!
Sweet Thomas
Big hugs from Jocelyn :)

Notice he is wearing Jocelyn's shoes! Yes, this is one of his favorite things to do! Just don't remind him when he is a teenager :)
Playing with Hayden
Some silly shots from January:

Fun in the exersaucer!
Love that smile :)

Fun with Daddy
We color a lot over here
And play hide and seek :)
And laugh on the floor!

And laugh some more :)
My sweetheart boy
Back in January having fun discovering what he can do with his hands
I love my Michael kisses!
Being silly... I love to just get on the floor with my boys and play around
And yes, I do admit, we watch our fair share of The Wiggles, Little Einsteins, Veggie Tales, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Tigger and Pooh to name a few :) They help me survive :)
Joshua finding himself in the mirror
Big smiles!
Silly boy
This is about the way Michael feels about having his picture taken these days :) Trust me on this though, he is full of many handsome smiles all throughout the day!
So cute! Jocelyn pushing Joshua in her stroller. I dont think he was as thrilled about it!
Playing in the cabinets at the Fulmer's beautiful new house! (Yes, wearing Jocelyn's shoes again!)

Sweet girl :)
Yay, Jay got a new car!! (One that is safer and I can drive!! I couldn't drive his Jeep. It had a really difficult stick shift and we couldn't put the kids in it either. This car is a true blessing.)
Loving some sweet potatoes! (Does any other mom out there feel like many days consist of going from one meal to the next?)
I love these boys so... (And yes, we have weaned Michael of his pacifier more since these Jan. pics were taken. Slowly but surely he is only getting his paci at nap and bedtime now!)
Chillin in the swing
He has already grown so much in the 2 months since this picture was taken

Michael's creativity :) I'm telling you he never surprises me with the cute and funny things he says and does. He already has such an imagination.
Fun in the pack and play! You may think this may be a safe place to put your little one for awhile while you get some housework done but not so with a 2 year old! You never know what he may "think" Joshua needs to play with next and toss it right on in with/on him! :)
Getting to spend time with my precious friend, Heidi! I miss her! It was so great getting to have her and Ian spend some time at our house :)

Saying goodbye to the jeep on a snowy day

Peeking through the crib rails after his nap
Trying to put on his best mad face! (I think this truly is about one of the only times I have ever seen this face!)
I love this little face he makes
Watching Mickey Mouse
Making brother smile during lunch
One of Michael's very favorite things... the tractor next door!
Checking out Daddy's new car
Every time we go into the front yard the first thing our boy wants to do is run full speed ahead to our neighbor's children's tractor. He loves it! It takes a lot to get him back into the house! Any of you who have ever witnessed this are probably laughing right now because it is very difficult!
They are so cute interacting together (and yes, many of our days are spent in our PJ's!)
He loves to play with spoons!
Michael's very first sucker on the way home from the doctor. You would not have believed the difficulty of this trip if I told you. Picture no nap, not feeling good, accidentaly threw his pacifier out the van door as it was closing at Target BEFORE going to the doctor and being hungry. Not a good combination!! Thank goodness our pediatrician has lollypops!
Michael loves dogs!! Sitting on Mr. Chris's lap checking out his big dog! Michael was both in awe and scared!
Having fun hanging out with the Chambers and their fun toys! This is right when Joshie started sitting up on his own.
Sweet Loren got out this barnyard set for Michael to play with. He loved it!

A snowy day at our house. We have had several of these already this year!
Another thing we do often... photo shoots! Joshua loving it right now; Michael not so much!

Michael is always great entertainment for Joshua! Nobody can make him laugh like he does.
Talking to brother; something Michael is constantly doing. Probably telling him what he should be doing :) Michael is already acting out his big brother role perfectly!
Eating lunch with Dorothy the dinosaur, Harry the octopus and Minnie Mouse in his "big boy" chair. I did try this for awhile thinking it would help him eat better... didn't work! So we are back to the booster seat for now; something that I can strap him into!
Chewing on his spoon :)
So there is a little (or a lot!) of a glimpse into what we do around here. Life is so good and we are so abundantly blessed with our two handsome little guys. There truly is never a dull moment and even though raising two small boys can be hectic, it is well worth any second of stress for those sweet cuddles and laughs that come in return :)

My sleeping boy :)

2009-03-03T21:58:00.002-05:00

So this is what Jay and I find a few nights a week when we go into Michael's room before bed to peek in on him...

Yes, he is sound asleep on his "doggie" all curled up on the floor right next to the door. Bless his sweet heart.
He will sleep so close to the door that we actually have to wake him so he will back up and we can carry him back to his bed. Precious boy :) I love him so.

Pray for Jonah

2009-03-03T09:26:00.002-05:00

Please pray for a precious baby boy named Jonah Williams. This is a link to his mom's blog: http://patriceandmattwilliams.blogspot.com/. He was born with a very rare genetic skin disorder called EB. His family has already suffered great loss as their first born son was stillborn. The family loves the Lord deeply but are also grieving and scared. I don't know this family personally but felt like I was lead to their website to pray and ask that you join me being that he needs a miracle. Thank you!

Happiest Baby On The Block

2009-02-27T15:20:00.003-05:00

I didn't have to follow any books to get the happiest baby on the block, we are just so blessed to have this precious happy boy and his big brother (who by the way is not into taking pictures right now at all... I have to sneak them to get good smiles; but he is happy too!)

Almost crawling!!

2009-02-27T14:57:00.002-05:00

Joshua is trying so hard to crawl! He is very close! I realize I need to spend more time with him upstairs on our carpet because he can get much better traction to lift himself up than on the hardwood where he slides :) He is very proud of himself and is doing the whole swaying back and forth thing...so cute! We are so proud of him!

Lifting himself up!
"Here I go, Mom!"
Working hard! (Doing push ups!)
"I'm off!"
Sitting up so proud of himself :)

Time with Mama and Sara

2009-02-22T19:12:00.006-05:00

Last month, Jay got the opportunity to go skiing with his good friend, Adam, in Jackson Hole, WY! He had a blast and my amazing mom and sister came to Knoxville for 4 nights to visit and help with the kids. We had so much fun together and I cannot thank them enough for their wonderful company and help! I love this girl time and wish so much we could have it more often!!

Jay skiing! Look at how beautiful it is!

Adam and Jay on the ski lift
"Ama" and Joshie! I love his big smile! And isn't my mom absolutely gorgeous?!
Not only do I have a gorgeous mom, but also a gorgeous sister!!
Sara and I with our "scrunched" hair she showed me how to do and Michael Caleb
Joshua is loving some Ama time!
He wasn't so sure what to think about his applesauce!

We got really brave and took the kids to PF Changs, one of my favorites! They did surprisingly well :) Not at all like that last Chili's post!
All the ladies at PF Changs
Loving kisses from Ama!
Michael's "I don't want to take a picture" face
Sisters :)
Sweet Sara and her baby nephew

Is my Joshua 8 months old already?

2009-02-18T20:34:00.003-05:00

It just seems like yesterday my Michael Caleb was 8 months old! Here he is, my talking, running, cuddly, independent, sensitive, strong willed, handsome toddler at 8 months old!

And here is my precious angel boy at 8 months... you can tell they are brothers but I think they have their own look. It's fun to compare pictures though. What do you think?
And here is Michael with his good buddy, Zachary on Monday. I got to go to my friend Krista's and have some much needed adult time while the kids had a blast playing together. Thanks for having us, Krista, and thanks for being such a blessing in my life!

Brothers

2009-02-17T14:07:00.005-05:00

Sitting side by side watching Little Einsteins...what could be sweeter?

A little closer
Joshua adores his big brother!

This is what happens when you leave a 2 year old downstairs by himself for a few minutes...
Yes, he got into the trash can! (Just like a little puppy as Sara put it!) That is old ground coffee all over his hands and under his finger nails! If you look closely, you can see the waffle from yesterday (next to the diaper) that he wanted to get to and yes, was eating! Nice...
A lunch like many others lately... a bad case of the terrible twos and his two year old molars coming in = no fun! He did not want the grilled cheese I had made him and I am trying my hardest to train him he needs to eat what I make for him. I try to give him several healthy options but I'm telling you what... this is stressful! He woke up from his nap after going to bed hungry after about 20 minutes wailing which in turn woke Joshua. Being a mommy definitely has it's hard days like this afternoon but it is so very worth it. And I promise Michael has plenty of happy, well behaved moments too :)
Joshua experimenting with a sippy cup, banana and pretzel sticks. He is his usual smiley self :) Thank goodness that the Lord blessed me with such a little angel while big brother as amazing and precious as he is is struggling with the terrible twos!

Lately...

2009-02-15T16:08:00.009-05:00

A few weeks ago Michael started sleeping in a big boy bed!! We have had the twin bed in his room for a few months and he has been asking to sleep in it. One day while I was at work, Jay decided to try letting him take a nap in it. He did great and loved it and has been in it ever since. The headboard and foot board are my Dad's parents who have passed away so they are very special. We have had a hard time keeping him it in though so any suggestions are very welcome :) I have been trying the Supernanny technique of silently leading him back to it after we have done the whole bedtime routine. Last night around 11:30 I went to peek on him as I do every night and felt his little body against the door as I opened it. He was sound asleep on the floor up against the door!! It was so cute but so sad. Anyways, here is his bed before nap time...

And after!! The one great thing about the big boy bed is after naps and in the morning he loves to play quietly in his room. It is always such a mess when I go to get him though!!
Lying with Daddy on his new cars and trucks bed set! (Making his silly face!)
Joshua's room! We have been so blessed to have borrowed one of our friend's cribs the last 8 months so now Joshua is in Michael's old crib :)

So exciting!!

Being silly putting on Daddy's glasses :)

Our attempted family night out at Chili's a few weeks ago. Joshua's first time to sit in a high chair! This meal was so difficult it was actually funny. Michael was in a terrible mood and had to be taken out to the car around 4-5 times to be talked to / spanked for his behavior. It was hilarious. All Jay and I could do was laugh.
Holding a very unhappy boy
As usual, Joshua was in good spirits! He has never taken a pacifier but loves chewing on these spoons.
Ok terrible picture of me being funny for Jay but this truly was what we looked like. If you can see the little kid being held behind me, his family came by us on their way out and told us not to worry that they totally understood. We still got many a funny look from other people this night though!
The Dillon family of 4! :) Dinners aren't quite as easy as they used to be but we wouldn't have it any other way!
Bath time!! The boys are bathing together now and have so much fun!

Michael after dumping a bucket of water over his head! He thinks this is hilarious!

Bathtime hugs :)
It snowed a lot a few weeks ago; the most I have seen since we lived here. Unfortunately our boys did not get to go out and play in it much because they have been sick. So here we are at the doctor with Michael longingly looking out at the pretty white snow as he called it :)
Me and my Joshie in his cute hat :)

I'm settling it...

2009-02-12T22:20:00.003-05:00

I am going to be better at blogging! I think I have had this idea that I needed to put up all of our pictures and if I got behind, I couldn't get out of order (shows a little of my personality... haha!) But I have decided this is silly and I am going to share our daily life and the funny things my kids do and say! I have so many pictures and as any of you with kids know, being a mommy takes up most of my time so from here on out, I'm just going to share the fun stuff and then when I get time, catch up with other pictures. So here are a few funny moments from today!

Joshua is sitting up really well :) I love this little face because he looks uncertain. Probably because Michael was busy running laps around him (literally) and trying to include him in throwing his toys while yelling "Joshua!"

Michael is my full fledged toddler these days! He and Joshua have both been really sick the past week with bad upper respiratory infections so needles to say I have really been working hard at having as much love, grace and patient with this precious two year old as possible :) Poor guy just hasn't felt good. You should have seen us trying to get through Walmart this morning. It was not a pretty sight! (Imagine toddler screaming as I am holding him under my right arm as I push the cart to the checkout). To brag on him a little though he now knows all of his colors, can count to 10 and is staring to learn to sing his ABC's. This is such a trying yet very fun age. He is my best little buddy :)
"Look, Mama, I'm sitting up!" He is also trying really hard to crawl right now. He scoots (kind of army crawls) all over the downstairs trying to follow Michael and play with his toys). He still hasn't gotten a tooth yet so he has that incredibly cute toothless grin!
Me and my boy! Yes, that is me in the background with a toy shopping cart on my head. My "hat" as Michael calls it. I love being home with my boys :)
The weather was gorgeous today so we took a walk (the coats came off after these pictures). Joshua was thrilled and Michael was happy too even though you can't really tell here :)
Joshua still thrilled.. Michael just enjoying the ride and the company of his "guys"
Our sweet neighbor gave us a few delicious chocolate chip muffins this afternoon. I had sat them on the stairs and walked into the playroom to find Michael eating one (he knows what tastes good!) So we let him enjoy it (note the chocolate all over his face) and Joshua enjoyed watching him enjoy it :)

Two very handsome boys :)

At long last... Our Christmas pictures!

2009-02-01T20:41:00.020-05:00

Finally! I am posting our Christmas pictures! We had a wonderful Christmas this past year in Charlotte (Cornelius), NC visiting with Jay's family. We stayed at his mom's beautiful new home on Lake Norman with lots of family! We had Aunt Lauren, Uncle Craig, Aunt Megan, Uncle Brian, Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Jeff, Garik, Mara, Nana, Gramps, Nan, Grandad and Casey, the dog! We also had quite a bit more family in town that we got to visit with several times which was a lot of fun. Nan had decorated the house and it looked gorgeous! She also worked very hard preparing the most amazing meals for us. We played games, got in the hot tub, laughed, talked and caught up, relaxed, went on a fun boat ride on Christmas day and had an incredible time together! So sit back, relax, and check out these numerous pictures! (When you have a 2 year old and 6 month old on Christmas, you have to take tons of pictures! And since this is my blog, I decided instead of narrowing them down to favorites, just to post them all!) Enjoy :)

Daddy tickling Michael :)

This picture is VERY common around our house... we are an extremly goofy family!
Brian and Megan. Aren't they a good looking couple?
So cute!
This was on Christmas Eve before we went to a church service at Nan and Grandad's church
Aren't we cute in our khaki? haha
Nana and Gramps on our Christmas day boat ride... thank you guys so much for creating this beautiful family!

Mom and Doug

Jeff and Mom... Jeff cooked us all amazing Pannini sandwiches!
Uncle B and Joshua

Jay and I on the boat

Brian and Megan

Mom and Nana and Gramps

Christmas morning with my boy and no makeup!
Our amazing Christmas breakfast
My sweetheart and I eating our Christmas breakfast
The whole fam
Joshua getting excited to open presents on his very first Christmas!
The boys in their matching PJ's

Almost sitting up on his own here
So happy all the time :)

Hugs for brother
Thanks for the helmet, Aunt Lauren!

Beautiful Nan and her sweet boy
Lauren opening her present from Jay!
Grandad and Joshua

Michael had a blast opening gifts this year!

Hugs for Uncle B

Hanging with Uncle Craig

The food!
Pretty Aunt Lauren and Joshua

So cute!
Mommy and her baby boy

Playing sherades (sp?) with the whole family! It was a blast!
Grandad's turn!
Enjoying eating with his cousins
Fun in the hot tub!

The girls
The guys

This was so cute... I found them upstairs snuggling watching The Wiggles. Mara and Michael both love The Wiggles and Mara was so excited to have a buddy to watch it with!

It was so much fun to see Michael able to get to know his cousins. He hadn't seen them since he was 6 months old. Way too long!

Tickles from Uncle Jeff!
Girl talk time after dinner :)
Some of the very pretty decorations

Uncle Jay and Mara playing the piano
The start of our picture day (pictures from this to come soon!) We gave Mom and Doug a few hours with a professional photographer for their Christmas present and the pictures turned out great! We were praying the kids would cooperate and for the most part they did...

Several attempts to get a family picture... as you can see they are all pretty unsuccessful!!

So sweet :)
Pretty Aunt Megan and Joshua!
The kids wresling with Jay
Pillow fight! (Sorry, Nan!)

Catching up... Michael's 2nd Birthday!!

2009-01-19T14:46:00.008-05:00

On December 5th, we celebrated Michael's 2nd birthday (which was Dec. 7th) by having a group of close friends over with their kids. We had a firetruck themed party this year which Michael picked out himself at Party City. He saw that section of decorations and had to have it and it was so cute so that's what we did! We had a lot of fun visiting with friends and celebrating Michael's life together.

Michael's firetruck cake I made him from scratch! Yes, I am proud :) It took about 5 things of red food coloring to make my icing red and not pink!

Michael's mini firetruck cake

Watching Cars while waiting for his guests to arrive :)

Our Christmas tree we picked out from Lowes!

His first gift! Thanks cousin Kelli!

A playroom full of kids!

This is so cute... Jocelyn and Anna mothering over little Joshua :)

An attempted family picture! (Yes, that is drool on my arm!)

Sweet Kelly, Maddison, Jennifer and I

One side of the room ready to sing Happy Birthday to the birthday boy

And the other!

Compare Michael here at his first birthday party...

To his second! He has changed so much! This year he is running and talking and eating big people food and dancing and singing and has just gotten so smart :) I am so proud of our big boy! He loves The Little Einsteins and The Wiggles and Cars and Veggie Tales and his favorite color is blue. He loves to brush his teeth and take his baths and he loves his "guys" (Paci, bear blankie and doggie). He loves making his little brother smile and also loves to hide behind furniture and act silly. He loves being rocked and read to at bedtime and he loves "snuggles" with mommy and daddy. His favorite books right now are Thomas the Train and Goodnight Moon and he does realize when you try to skip words to get to the end of the book faster :) He knows all of his colors and is learning his ABC's and to count. He counts right now by saying "1, 2, 3, 5, 6!" He loves his hot wheels cars and has to have one with him wherever he goes. He is such a joy in our lives and it is so much fun being his mommy.

Blowing out his candles!

Finally digging in!

Opening gifts! This part was really funny because we were trying to go through it quickly because there were so many gifts and Michael would get so upset each time we had to pass on a new gift to get to the next one. He would laugh and then be crying the next minute. We probably should have waited and opened them later and let him enjoy them one by one. He got some amazing gifts though so thank you so much!

Michael: "I want that last toy back... now!!!"

"Okay, I am happy now."