Dayton's First Haircut

While I did do a single snip to remove Dayton's mullet in early November and saved the lock, Dayton had not yet had his first haircut until yesterday, December 20th. It was time. The amount of times either Mike and I expressed to Dayton...."Your HAIR is EVERYwhere" was mounting.

Luckily, Betty at Dayton's daycare is also a hairdresser. She volunteered to cut Dayton's hair when we ran into her at the daycare holiday party. I was told that he sat very still and serious while she gave him the trim. We are VERY happy with the results. I did not expect him to look so different but from a Mom's perspective, he does.

BEFORE
AFTER

Thanksgiving

A Thanksgiving tradition, Namie, Beebop and Nan came to Texas to help us celebrate. To avoid the stress of cooking, we have found a wonderful restaurant that does an AMAZING family style Thanksgiving meal with every protein and side one could ever dream of. The Grandparents' visit also included the Houston Thanksgiving Day parade and a trip to the Houston Zoo.

Unfortunately, only days after the family departed, Mike came down with viral meningitis. I have never seen him so sick. He was mainly quarantined to the bedroom for a week. One day, Mike commented, "I feel mainly better except it hurts to move my eyes'....if that is 'better' than that is an indication of HOW sick he was. We're thankful Mike is healthy again and we are knocking on wood that we all stay healthy in 2011.

Thanksgiving at Gravitas with Nan, Namie & Beebop

Three generations

Dayton brought a book to Beebop to read to him

Dayton with the Tigers...grrrrr!

Dayton's first time in a petting zoo

He was so gentle with the goats

Dayton feeding a goat

Namie, Dayton and Mommy

Dayton's second Hannukah! His number of toys has doubled!

Mike sick with viral meningitus - - playing with Dayton

Goodbye Great Grandpa Hershey

Dayton's Great Grandpa Hershey passed away on November 2nd at 90 years old. To the very end, he was an amazing and inspirational man and he will be endlessly missed. The pictures below are from last October when Dayton met his Great Grandpa for the first time.

While funerals are always a sad occasion, it is also an opportunity for family to come together in honor of a loved one. Great Grandpa Hershey was LOVED. It was wonderful to see the family and to even meet cousins we'd never met before, Cousin Ira and Ed.

Dayton has begun feeding himself

Dayton sayting 'Tze Tze'...Tiger is outside

Namie and Bebop with their 3 grandchildren

Dayton with Uncle Alex and First Cousins Annabel and Daniel

Dayton and Cousins Ira and Ed from California - - we can't wait to visit!

Back in Houston, Dayton enjoys his music class. Check out the video.

A Trip to the Arboretum

We recently discovered the Houston arboretum which is only about 5 minutes from our house. Who knew?! We had a wonderful time and even though you can hear the traffic noise from the near-by highway, it is actually quite peaceful and beautiful. Dayton had a great time exploring and climbing. We can't wait to go back.

Every little boy loves rocks!

Dayton running into the abyss...and he's got the map!

Climbing on fallen trees
Mommy & Dayton go for a walk

Dayton and Daddy go for a run

Flower picking.

Dayton loved playing with Daddy's hat and sunglasses.

The Best Halloween Ever

Dayton's first Halloween was a scary event because we were t-boned in our car by a tow-truck driver and brought by ambulance to the hospital. Needless to say, Dayton's second Halloween was scary for all the right reasons. At the end of the night, Mike and I both agreed - - - this was the best Halloween EVER!

Of course, Dayton had a little fit when he was forced to put on his costume (see crying pic below). But after shaking off the trauma of it all, he really enjoyed being dressed up like all the other kiddos (and adults). I have to note that I was very proud of myself for modifying Dayton's lion costume by cutting off a piece of fabric that was tight around his face and resewing the costume. As a result, Dayton had a lion hood which he was much more tolerant of. Mike still thinks he looked like a dandy lion with a tail. We both agreed he was darn cute.

At first, Dayton was taking the candy out of his bucket and putting it into the bowls of the candy-givers. He quickly caught on and was waving goodbye and throwing kisses as he went from door to door. He was entranced by the decorations in the neighborhood including giant cats, witches and more (oh my!).

Thank you to Ashley, Josh and Faith for inviting us into their neighborhood for the festivities. We really had so much fun!

The Dix-Hirschenfang Family

Dayton giving away candy....Don't call Dayton a 'scardy cat'!

Dayton the Lion

Dayton and Faith eating ice cream.

The start of the Halloween parade

Dayton's first trick or treat

'Take it off...take it off....!"

Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today, I found out I was pregnant. It was a Wednesday. Mike was out of town. My period was about 5 days late or so. I had tossed and turned all night struggling with the decision on whether to take a pregnancy test. Finally, before my alarm went off, I jumped out of bed and decided to bite the bullet and take the test. Within minutes, a positive result!

I made the bed. I walked the dogs. What else was I going to do?

I called Mike to say good morning. I called my Mom to wish her a Happy Birthday.

During all this, I remained calm but was screaming with excitement inside. I researched on ways to tell Mike of our bigh news.

Mike returned from his trip exhausted on Friday. I waited until Saturday to surprise him. We went to the Mucky Duck as we always did for brunch. I was built up with nervous excitement. We got home.

A challah in the oven. The camera set up to record on video.

Jill: "Mike, it looks like Teresa (our housecleaner) has left something in the oven"
Mike: "Huh...?"
Jill: "Yeah, come see...."
Mike walks over to the oven and opens it....we both peak in.
Jill takes the platter out of the oven with the challah on it.
Jill: "Handsome, there is a bun in our oven"!
Mike: "A challah...how nice of Teresa".
Jill: "Handsome, there is a bun in our oven"!
Mike: "Yeah, I know...that's very nice of her".
Jill, getting frustrated: "...Get it, handsome, there is a bun in our oven"!?
Mike: "Yeah, I get it" with a semi-smile.
Jill, now disappointed that he says he gets it but does not appear really excited: "You do?"...slightly pouty.
Finally....Mike gets it. =-)

I have the video to prove it but it's too big to put on the blog.

On July 3rd, 2009, little Dayton was born.

A Little Boy On Our Hands

September has been a busy month of ups and downs.

Of course, we lost our dear Mikki and we are adjusting to the emptiness in the home. Dayton and Piper have adjusted by turning to one another for support. When once Piper would walk away when Dayton approached, now he stands by Dayton's side as Dayton feeds him cheerios one-by-one. Dayton is so sweet with the animals and has definitely bonded closer to Piper and Tiger now that Mikki is not physically present. He gently pets them and this morning after Piper had one too many of his cheerios, he walked over to Tiger and placed a single cheerio by her. A gentle and kind heart.

Both Mike and I are excited to be starting new jobs. Mike started with Weatherford a week ago. As for me, I'm still with Accenture but have moved out of Consulting and into Enterprise. Basically, that means that I am no longer part of the revenue producing group at Accenture which would put me at client sites. Instead, I am part of the internal Accenture workforce that keep the wheels on the bus. Officially, I am the 'Global Business Operations Lead' for a specific group within Accenture. I work 99% from home except for a trip here and there to meet up with members of the global team. I'm off the partner track but very excited to have continued flexibility to focus on family in the years to come. Yes, becoming a Mom has changed my priorities.

Dayton continues to crack us up. He has become a communicating little boy. Broom, Ball, banana (his tongue goes all over the place in his mouth and sometimes says banana), Tzyty (Tiger), more (in sign language too), agua or wawa (thank you spanish speaking daycare workers), nose (as he points to my nose) and many many other words that come and go.

His comprehension also blows us away. It's time to go for a bath, Dayton...or time to get your diaper changed....or time to go to daycare...and off he goes to head in the right direction. Let's put your zapatos (shoes) on, Dayton...and he comes running with his shoes. He now leans in with pursed lips to kiss me on the lips...then asks for more kisses in sign language. While sitting in the grocery cart, I feel his hands on mine and when I look down he is grabbing my hands to sing and rock 'Row Row Row your boat' with a big smile. He loves doing anything with balls and anything that involves climbing, singing or dancing. Last night he rocked side to side and clapped over and over again as he listened to the music coming from one of his toys. He squeals with laughter when I lean into his crib to kiss him all over 'good night' and then throws kisses as I walk out of his room telling him 'I love you, Dayton'.

We are so thankful that he continues to have such and kind, loving and sweet demeanor. At 15 months old, we definitely have a little boy on our hands.

Pictures to prove it are below. Enjoy!

A Letter to our Friends and Family

Friends and Family,

I wanted to let you know that we have decided to say our goodbyes to Mikki today. Her leg has completely swollen up as of Saturday morning and she is immobile and uncomfortable. While it is very hard to think of our lives without her in it, we know this is the best decision for her.

We thank her for the love and devotion she has given to us. We will miss her endlessly.

Mikki asked that I write you this note to let you know that she will be passing on today. She also wanted me to tell you that she is at peace with the decision. Perhaps only a bit saddened that she was not able to tell each of you a personal good-bye. She thanks you for all the kisses, pets and hugs that you have given her over the years.

Included are a couple of pictures of Mikki that were taken this morning. Dayton and Mikki always have a way of bringing out a smile in one another and Dayton was able to do that to Mikki today as he said his ‘good-byes’. After giving her some snuggles, he threw her kisses as we walked out the door to go to daycare. Mikki will join Rommie as our ‘guardian-dog-angels’.

Love, Jill, Mike, Dayton (Mikki, Piper and Tiger too) XO

Labor Day Weekend

We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend with a visit from Dayton's Nan (Mike's Mom).

Unfortunately, the happiness of the weekend had a shadow of sad news hovering over it.
We found out late last week that our Mikki (my first four-legged child and Dayton's best friend) has bone cancer. I have been taking Mikki for acupuncture treatments (see picture of Mikki on the zebra print blanket with needles in) to help with pain management for her arthritis. The acupuncture vet noticed a large mass on Mikki's shoulder. Once she pointed it out, I could not believe I'd missed it. It has likely grown quite fast because she had a treatment only a couple weeks prior and the vet had not noticed it at that time. We have known for awhile now that Mikki was slowing down and to cherish every day with her. The diagnosis last week just made this mission even more important. Our goal is to keep her happy and comfortable for the remainder of her life and we hope that will go on for as long as possible. As Rommie did for us a couple years ago, Mikki will tell us when it is her time. In the mean time, she is still our happy (although hobbling) Mikki and loves being part of the family and a big sis to Dayton, as you will see from these pictures taken this weekend.

Back to happy news, it was wonderful to have Nan in town and the family together for a long weekend enjoying endless water activities, BBQs and Dayton's 14 Month Birthday!

At 14 months old, Dayton is running, climbing, dancing, throwing kisses and waving. He says 'Buh Buh' (for bye bye), Momma, Dadda, Go (his first word), 'mo' (for more), 'Ahhhh' (for all done) and throws in other words from time to time. When we tell Dayton to go over and give Mikki a hug, he walks over to her and lays his head down on her belly (see pic below). He also saw his first lawn being mowed this weekend. We were out for a walk and he stopped in his tracks. Eventually, we both sat down to watch the man mow his lawn. 15 minutes later, as we walked away, I told Dayton to blow the lawn man a kiss. He did. The next day, in the same spot but with no lawn man present, Dayton began throwing kisses to the same location. I realized later he was remembering the lawn man from the day prior. I have to remind myself that Dayton understands much more than I realize and give him credit for. At 14 months, the one thing Dayton hates - - - getting his diaper changed. Oi Veh. He turns into a kicking thrashing boy...we're working on this but it's not fun!

We were sad to see Nan go but she will be back for Thanksgiving. 'Buh buh', Nan! Smack (the sound of Dayton throwing a kiss).

Don't miss two videos at the bottom of this blog post. Dayton's friend in the pool is Faith Grahmann who just turned 2 years old. The two of them play so well together.