Christmas 2011

We did a low-key Christmas at our house this year. It wasn't the same without Fred, but I think we did the best we could.

Dustin made his famous brined turkey and Elise her homemade pâté. Fred would have really enjoyed the meal. We toasted to his honor and filled our bellies with great food and wine... just as he would have wanted.

Dylan and Ava were of course spoiled with toys. Dylan's favorite this year was all of his new trains!  He got several new trains this year, including a large Thomas the Train set!  Trains were everywhere... you couldnt even see the floor!  He also got several new clothes, including a train outfit from PaPa, and a gaint airplane from Ava!

Ava's favorite this year was a unicorn pillow-pet. She asked for a real unicorn, but this was close enough.  She also asked for a basket for a kittens... maybe next year!

Fred Bradley (10-13-40 to 12-8-11)

The world lost an amazing man yesterday.  Unfortunately Fred passed away last night around 11PM.  Fortunately we were all able to spend the last several hours with him.  We were able to talk to him and let him know how much we loved him.  He was able to tell us how much he loved us back.  This time was truly a gift.  We told him how from now on we would always order an extra bottle of wine, and an extra appetizer, and an extra dessert in his honor.  He responded with his famous words "make everyday a holiday and every meal a feast".  He passed away in peace, not pain, surrounded by love. 

Fred was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer over 10 years ago.  He was told he had six months to a year to live. His super human will to live and love of life kept him not only alive, but thriving all those years.  He was able to run a successful real estate company, travel the world, dine at the finest restaurants, celebrate 40+ years of marriage, golf with his buddies, watch his boys get married, meet both his grandkids... and spoil those grandkids absolutely rotten!  He said it best in his final letter to us "When I go don't be sad.  Don't tell people I died... tell them I lived". 

He lived an amazing life and touched everyone that met him.  He will be deeply missed, but will continue living in all of us.

Fred's Surgery

The day after Thanksgiving Fred was in too much pain to bear.  So Darren took him to the ER and they did the surgery that night, instead of waiting until the 30th as planned.  They ended up only having to drill two holes, instead of removing part of his skull.  This is a blessing, as recovery is supposed to be much easier.

We were hoping for instant pain relief, but it seems to be going a little slower.  Each day gets a little better though.  He's now able to eat and keep down food, which is always a good sign.  He was released from the hospital yesterday and is resting at home now.  We're hoping he's feeling much better by Christmas!

Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving was bittersweet. We have so much to be thankful for and are so grateful for our amazing family, friends, and many blessings. Yet it's so hard to watch a loved one be in pain and Fred has not been feeling well for several weeks. We really wish Fred and Diane could have joined us this year for Thanksgiving dinner, but Fred just wasn't feeling up to it.

This year for Thanksgiving dinner, we went to the Pine Hills Lodge in Julian. The boys used to go here every year with their parents when they were younger! It closed down for several years, and just reopened.

The drive to Julian was beautiful- rolling hills, changing leaves, and amazing mountain views. It's hard not to get in the "holiday mood" with the cool, crisp air and winding country roads. Plus, Dylan loved looking at all of the animals on the road trip- cows, horses & sheep!

The lodge was tucked into the woods, so picturesque.  Inside were two huge stone fireplaces and dark wood floors and walls.  It reminded me of something you would find on the east coast.  We had a great meal, although I'm not sure you can say the same for the family sitting next to us.  Let's just say Dylan was being "very 2"!  The family sitting next to us was less than amused... 

After lunch we went over to Bam-Mas and PaPas for some dessert and coffee.  Yummy!  Diane  put out quite a spread!  Dylan's favorite, and Daddy's too, was the pumpkin pie, of course.  Dylan also loved spending time with Ava- the two of them were running around like crazy.  Unlike the family next to us at lunch, the grandparents were very amused.  So cute!

All things considered, it was a great Thanksgiving.

Update on Fred

Well... the last few weeks have not been easy. Fred was admitted to the hospital last Tuesday. He's been having a very bad headache for several days. The doctors orginally thought it was a tension headache, but after a ct scan they found bleeding on his brain.

The bleeding is most likely caused from all of the blood thinners they put him on after his heart "episode". So now they put him on blood clotters to stop the bleeding. They also inserted "screens" into his arteries to prevent another heart attack or stroke.

The plan is the operate in a few weeks to relieve the pressure in his head. For now we are just hoping and praying for the best...

Day Out With Thomas the Train

Today we drove up to beautiful Perris, CA (being sarcastic) to see Thomas the Train, Dylan's most favorite train! After an hour drive, we arrived... to the middle of nowhere, the Orange Empire Railway Museum.

This weekend was very special, it was the "Day Out With Thomas" event at the museum. Toddlers from all over Southern California swarmed the area to get a glimpse of their hero. It was worth the trip to see Dylan's face when he saw all of the trains and then... the one... the only... Thomas! Not only did we get to "meet" Thomas, we got to ride him! A perfect day :)

Time to reflect...

Most people know this has been a tough year for us. I had a miscarriage early in the year, which broke my heart into a million pieces. :( Plus, the economy has been less than ideal for Dustin's real estate business. And we've had several family members struggle with health issues. 2011 has been a tough year. It's been so tough I haven't really been motivated to blog much. As a result, I fell about 8 months behind on my life documenting.

About a week ago, I got motivated. I got really motivated and I'm not sure why. So I stated staying up late every night this week, digging through pictures and trying remember what happened when and who we were with. Now I am proud to say, the blog is up-to-date! I'm not sure how long it will stay that way, but that's ok. Life is busy- we do the best we can.

In my effort to "recreate" this year in blog-land, it hit me... this year hasn't been that bad at all. Actually, it's been a pretty good year! We have our health, we have each other, we have our family, we have our friends... and we have more than that. We have a lot of really great memories! Despite the challenges of this year, we got through it. Life gave us a few lemons and we made lemonade.  And Dylan was just the sugar we needed to make this happen  :)

New Pre-School

Everything happens for a reason... every once in a while I get a good reminder of that...

I'd been struggling with which preschool to put Dylan in for months. This one I'd like the facility. Another one I'd like the teachers. Another one I'd like the kids to teacher ratio. But in all my searching, nothing felt right. Nothing was "perfect". So I'm so thankful mom could come out and help us with Dylan when Amanda went out on maternity leave Oct 1. This took a lot of pressure off me.

During mom's 1st week here, she ran into our old neighbor, Shannon, and explained why she was visiting. Shannon told mom about a preschool at Cal State San Marcos. I didn't even know this existed! So off we went for a tour... and it was love at first sight! And the best news of all- they had a spot open in the 2-year program (usually there is a wait list).

Just to make sure I wasn't feeling "right" out of pure exhaustion of looking at preschools for weeks and week and weeks, I had mom go back and look at a few of the ones I had toured previously. Mom agreed- Cal State San Marcos (CCLC) was the ONE! Finally!

If mom hadn't come visit, she wouldn't have taken Dylan to the Discovery Museum, and she wouldn't have run into Shannon, and we wouldn't have known about this preschool. Everything happens for a reason!

Dylan started on Nov 2, the day after MeMe headed home to NC. So far the transition has been easy. He loves his new teacher, Miss Kayla, and loves all his new friends! The only downside is, he's having so much fun he doesn't want to nap. This is a big change for the kid that used to nap 3-4 hours a day! He will lay in his bed quietly, but just won't sleep. Luckily, he's still happy Dylan, even with no nap, so we aren't worried about it. We've just been putting him to bed a little early each night.

1st day at new school... he just sat right down and started eating breakfast :)

Riding With Bert & Ernie

Dylan riding with Bert & Ernie at BabiesRUs :)

Trick or Treat

I knew finding a costume that Dylan would wear was going to be a challenge this year. He hates all hats, hoodies, and basically anything else you could wear on your head! So that eliminates 99.9% of all toddler costumes... at least most of the cute ones!

 I asked Dylan several times what he wanted to be for Halloween and always got the same answer "train tracks".  Hmm.... maybe we could do that, but sure everyone would "get it." :)

Dustin and I really wanted him to be a sailor this year. Wouldn't that be cute? But alas, we couldn't find a sailor costume in his size anywhere, and we looked everywhere! (Yeah, I know most sailor costumes have hats, but I thought he could skip the hat and you would still get the idea.)

Ok so plan B. I thought of several other costumes that might work: Luke Skywalker, a train conductor, a golfer, a football player. Mom thought of a "headless dinosaur", which seemed like a great idea! Dylan loves dinosaurs!! I had visions of Dylan loving his Halloween costume so much he would want to wear it all the time. The headless dinosaur might be my dream come true! So mom went out and got him a dinosaur costume with no hat/hood and a really nice tail (the tail was critical for "Dylan appeal"). Mom spent hours fixing it up to make it super special by adding lots of detailing (she's very crafty)! Dylan was practicing his "dinosaur roar" for weeks. We were all so excited! It wasn't until we tried the costume on, the day before Halloween, that we realized... it was too small. (Mental note: next time try on the costume first.)

So October 31, Halloween night, a Monday this year... I ran to Target to pick up whatever last-minute costumes they had left. I was in luck! They had a bunch in his size: another headless dinosaur (what are the chances of that??), an airplane, a golfer, and a train conductor. Score! I bought them all! I ran home to see which one would light up Dylan's eyes. The only problem was... none of them did!

So it's 7PM and all of the "little" trick-or-treaters are already out in full-force. Dylan is refusing to put on ANY costume! Hmmm... dilemma. Last minute we just decided to throw on his Chargers jersey. Finally, that worked and trick-or-treating could commence. It was a bit of a half-hearted costume, but hey what are you doing to do with a 2-year that knows exactly what he does and does NOT want??

Once he got into it, he loved trick-or-treating! He would go up and knock on the neighbor's front door and politely ask "trick or treat?". He was so polite he often put some of his candy back into people's bowls after they gave him a piece!

Pumpkin Carving

Dustin has a little helper this year for pumpkin carving :)

Bates Nut Farm

We put off going to the pumpkin patch until the last weekend of October, in hopes of getting another "big one" for only $10 like we did last year. No such luck! All the big ones went early this year. Oh well, we still had fun and got 2 little ones and one "baby" one, which was very special! Dylan even picked out all of the pumpkins by himself!

The great thing about Bates Nut Farm is they have a lot more than just pumpkins. This year we did the tractor ride, which Dylan LOVED and wouldn't stop talking about... "More tractor, More tractor, More tractor!" About the only thing that could keep his mind off the tractor was the "horsey". Dylan rode the horsey, Chocolate Chip, all by himself. What a big boy!

Beach Time

One of MeMe's favorite things to do in San Diego is go to beach. And Dylan loves it too! The two of them had so much fun jumping in the waves and watching the surfers! :)

Dylan was in such a good mood after the beach, he didn't even mind his bath to wash off all the sand!

Giant Flying Fish

PaPa Fred loves spoiling Dylan! So when he ran a across a giant flying fish balloon (still not sure where in the world he found this) of course he had to get it! Needless to say, Dylan LOVED it! So did Dustin, he could used to the remote control (yes, this balloon comes with a remote) to make the fish fly up, down, right & left. So fun!

Cupcakes!

Miss Ava (AKA "Ava Potato") loves cupcakes, and so does Daddy, and so does Dylan. So every time Ava stays at our house we make an effort to make cupcakes. This time was especially special... we got princess sprinkles at the grocery store, which were a BIG hit!

Apple Picking With Ava

This year we decided to try apple picking in Julian, a San Diego tradition which we have never done. We had Ava with us this weekend and what a fun activity for Dylan and Ava to do together!

Ohhh Julian, the mountains, the cool-crisp air, the homemade apple pie... I was so excited! I put on my boots, my favorite sweaterdress (don't want to be too cold) and off we went.

After the hour long drive we arrive... to 90 degree weather!! Oops- wardrobe mistake! Next time I will check the weather before we go. :)

So we went to the 1st orchid, Raven Hill... no apples. So we went down the street to the next orchid, Calico Ranch... apples! But not many. Mental note #2: next time go earlier in the apple season.

We had a great day none the less, and filled up several bags of apples! I wish I could say I came home and made a wonderful homemade apple pie, but I didn't. Maybe next year :)

Sea World

Another thing we've never done the many times mom has visited San Diego is go to Sea World. Well, now we can cross that one off the list!

We had a great time at Sea World with Dylan and Ava. Personally, I loved the Shamu show (for some reason I cry every time- seriously!). Dylan loved the new turtle exhibit- we had a hard time of getting him out of there! Ava liked the dolphin show, and Dustin's favorite was the seals and sea lions. Unfortunately, we missed the sea lion show (we were running late after lunch) but we did get to feed the seals!

Birch Aquarium

While Mommy & Daddy have to go to work everyday (blaaaaaaaaaa) Dylan and MeMe get to have all the fun! Today they went to the Birch Aquarium. Dylan loves watching all the fish and view from the aquarium is one of best in San Diego! :)

We Have Grass!

Lots and lots of beautiful grass!! Finally our yard is usable again- no more dirt! The landscaping project was a bit painful at times (dealt with a contractor that stole a porter-potty... long story), but now it's DONE! And it looks GREAT!!



Should we take bets for how long it will stay this way before Katie & Leila destroy it???

Potty Time

We are starting to potty train... even though Dylan only shows interest about every millonth time we ask "wanna sit on the potty?" Maybe he was showing off for MeMe, but he was pretty into the idea for the first few weeks she was here! Plus, you do get a pretty awesome sticker for sitting on the potty... who wouldnt want that?

I love how Dylan and Daddy took turns with who gets to sit on the little potty!

Legoland

MeMe has never been to Legoland, so of course we had to take her this trip! Dylan loved showing her all of his favorite rides- especially the sky train and boats! I think MeMe's favorite was Miniland where the world's most famous cities are recreated out of legos!

Italy in Escondido

Dustin and Fred heard of this little winery in Escondido, the Cordiano Winery, that is supposed to have the best pizza this side of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. So of course we had to try it!
After following a long, winding road into the hills about Escondido we arrived. And boy, it was worth the drive! Homemade wine, amazing wood-fire pizza and a view that made you feel like you were in the old country! http://www.cordianowinery.com/

Kickin It Old School

Dylan loves to catch up with his old buddies from Miss Amanda's daycare...

Dylan and Hansy

Dylan and Leandro (AKA "Andro")

The Artist Formerly Known As "Grammy"

Grammy to the rescue! I've really been struggling with where to send Dylan for daycare now that Miss Amanda's is closed for the next three months. I looked at 7, yes 7, daycares... and none of them felt "right". I guess I thought that if I just put it off long enough something would work it. And it did! Grammy took pity on us and decided to come out and watch Dylan this month. Whew- this buys me more time!

Dylan adores, really adores, his Grammy! He was so excited when we picked her up at the airport. It was like no time had past since the last time they were together. He loves her "thiiiis much"! That's their little saying for each other... "I love you thiiiiiis much" (spreading their arms out as far as possible)!

Over the next few weeks, Dylan started to refer to Grammy as "MeMe". He's the boss, so "Grammy" is now "MeMe". I love that Dylan came up with the name on his own :)

Miss Amanda's Day Care

We knew this day was coming... it's time for Amanda to have her baby! We are so excited for her and her family, but very sad that we will need to find a new daycare for Dylan.

Dylan has loved being at Miss Amanda's house for the last year and a half with all of his best buddies Addy, Brody, Hans, Henri & Christian. Amanda has been a huge part of Dylan "coming out of his shell" and developing into a very playful and polite little boy (not a baby anymore).

Thank you Amanda for all you've done! We are looking forward to lots of playdates soon :)

Super Dad!

Cooking dinner and playing with Dylan at the same time... my kind of man!

Koi & Turtle Pond

Dustin has been busy working on a new koi/turtle pond for Dylan! After digging, and digging, and digging... Dustin hit the mother of all rocks. This sucker was huge, and heavy! Luckily, after much coherencing, we finally got that sucker out! Next step: install the filter & pond liner. More pics soon!

Train Trip to San Juan Capistrano

Dylan is in a bit of "train" phase these days, to say the least. Knowing that, PaPa Fred was on a train mission and booked us all a trip on the "big train" to go up to San Juan Capistrano from Solana Beach. Dylan had a BLAST! He loved sitting next to PaPa and Ava on the train and pointing at all the boats, trucks, and other trains.   What a beautiful trip!  When you can sit back and relax, you really realize just how beautiful Southern CA truely is.
Once we got to San Juan Capistrano we visited the petting zoo. Dylan and Ava loved feeding all the animals! Ava especially loved the bunnies and Dylan liked the goats.. who appear to be a little over-fed if you ask me! After lunch we grabbed lunch in the village and then headed home on the train. What a perfect day!

Old Poway Park Train

Dylan loves riding the train at Old Poway Park! Sometimes there is even a train robbery with a real gun fight! Dylan loves all the action, but isnt a huge fan of the guns...

Life with a 2-Yr Old

2 1/2 Check-Up & Dentist

We had Dylan's 2 1/2 year check-up with Dr. Block and he did great! He's right on track as far as development and is growing like a weed...

Height: 37.75in (90%)
Weight: 30.5lbs (60%)
Body Mass: 15.06 (15%)

Yep, that's right... your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. Dylan is in the 60th percentile for weight now!!

In addition to a trip to the pediatrician, Dylan also visited his dentist, Dr. Davis for a check-up! Dylan wasn't a fan of getting his teeth cleaned, but his pearly whites are sure looking good now! Dylan almost has all his teeth. He's only missing his 2 year old molars. No need to worry though- those are on the way! I don't want to brag... but this kid has the cutest smile in town!

B-Day

Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me... (ok you get the idea, enough singing to myself)

This year I had a low-key birthday, which is just want I wanted. Dustin got me the prettiest bouquet of flowers I've ever seen and then we had dinner with our good friends Chris & Kimberly at my favorite restaurant, Poseidon. Aww... Perfection :)