Life with Dylan

Category: Love

  • My Inspiration

    As much as I love my life with Dylan, there are those days when I feel like the world is crumbling around me. I am not perfect. I can offer advice and help others, but I cannot always take the advice or help from those who want to help me. Last night I went to a meeting with a group of women, my friends, the members of Divine Perceptions. Aside from helping each other with our businesses, we help each other grow into better, stronger women.

    So just when my world was crumbling around me and I felt I could not catch me breath, these women reminded me of how strong I am. We are all human and we all get down sometimes. However, we all have something or someone who inspires us to keep going.

    Because this meeting went well past Dylan’s bedtime, he spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa. The house was so quiet this morning. While we should not live our lives for someone else, but rather live our lives for ourselves, the quiet of the house when I woke up reminded me of what my inspiration is to keep moving forward. I realized that it does not matter how much money I make, how successful my business is, or how many friends I have. What matters is how I live my life and that I live my life with positive thoughts and actions.

    To do this, I look to my inspiration …

  • Wordless Wednesday – My Valentine

  • Communication

    “Mom, I need to talk to you” … just like that. So grown up. Of course I am thinking he has done something wrong and is finally ready to fess up. Wow, was I in for a shocker! Just minutes before Dylan said these seven little words I had asked him to clean up the Wii, his Nerf guns and get his book to read before bed. Oh, and I told him I was going to finish filling out his Otter Log. (Otter Logs are filled out weekly to track how many minutes he reads)

    So we sit on the couch and sensing that he was nervous, I told him he could tell me anything he wanted. He takes a deep breath and ‘lays into me’ … “Mom, you don’t have to be so mean to me when you tell me to clean up. You make me feel like a slob and it hurts my feelings. All you have to say is clean up the Wii. You don’t need to say Clean up the Wii, and the remotes, and the games. Just say the Wii. And I know the bullets go with the Nerf gun. Oh, and you don’t need to tell me you are filling out my Otter Log either. Just do it and put it in my homework folder.”

    Once I was able to get a word in I let him know that I understood and that I was sorry I made him feel like a “slob”, but that sometimes he doesn’t pick up and needs to be told each little thing. He informed me that his teacher called him a slob one time because his desk was messy and that it hurt his feelings. I said, “Maybe you need to work on that and make sure your desk stays clean” … He agreed.

    Communication at it’s finest.

    Now let’s read …

  • Dylan’s First Surgery

    As a parent, the last thing you want to think about is your child being sedated and having to undergo surgery. This is something that I had to think about for the last three months when a regular dental check-up in October determined that Dylan had Enamel Hypoplasia. (Click the link for full details/pics) This big scary word basically means that there is a defect in tooth enamel that results in less quantity of enamel than normal. The cause is unknown, but Pediatric Dentists believe the main cause is high fevers and/or high amounts of antibiotics during the first two years of life when the first year molars are being developed. So once again, the motherly gut instinct that his molars didn’t look right when they came in was correct.

    After several visits to a variety of Pediatric Dentists, I finally found one that I was happy with and that was “in network” for my insurance. Unfortunately, the extent of the hypoplasia was so deep that Dylan would have to be fully sedated for the treatment. They needed to dig out as much decay as possible on all four of his molars, trying to avoid baby root canals, and cap them all with silver crowns. And no, dental insurance does not cover sedation which is the most expensive part of the surgery. Was I ready for this? Not only financially, but emotionally? Yes, I understand this is a normal procedure; everyone gets crowns, but this is my baby and he is going to be fully sedated. Anything can happen while under anesthesia.

    Well, the procedure was scheduled for January 26th. I was told to hold my baby and give him a hug while he was given a shot that would knock him out. He cried, I rocked him, told him that I loved him, and within a minute his held fell back and he was out. After a 2 1/2 hour surgery, Dylan woke up and the dentist said everything went great. I was a nervous wreck the whole time and so thankful for good friends and family who were there with me. The anesthesiologist, dentist and her entire staff were wonderful! Dylan received a tote bag size goodie bag before the surgery and they were all so understanding of how I was feeling. Aside from the gum infection that set in the next day, which a week of antibiotics took care of, Dylan did great and is proud to show off his new silver teeth!

    The goodie bag …          Waking up …              2 of the 4 silver crowns

  • He Doesn’t Need “Mommy” Anymore

    I am not quite sure when this first started happening, but now it is a daily occurance. My little boy is growing up and demanding his privacy. No more leaving the bathroom door open. Not only does he close the door, but he informs me beforehand that he will be locking the door. He doesn’t get dressed in his room anymore, now he goes into the bathroom, closes the door and gets dressed in private. Not sure why he can’t just close his bedroom door and get dressed in there.

    The latest development in our household is the use of bright orange traffic cones. I guess the signs on his bedroom door were not clear enough. Now my son has lined up cones at the base of his door and hung a dreamcatcher on his doorknob (this will make noise if I try to open door) to make sure I stay out. Last night I was instructed to read the signs outloud to him and promise to always knock before I come in. At first I was like, wait … what do you mean I have to knock? Then I remembered being a child and loving it when my door was closed. Not that we are doing anything important, but the idea of having the door closed and being in your own little world is kind of cool. However, I do not remember doing this until I was 9 or 10 years old; Dylan is only 7!

    I want him to have his own identity and I know he is growing up, but it is hard letting go of my little baby. Oh, and one more thing I was told … “I think I am just going to call you MOM from now on”

  • Sleep is Overrated

    If I count the sleepless nights during pregnancy, it has been 8 years since I have had a full nights sleep. By a full night I mean more than 5 or 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I can remember being so excited when Dylan was a toddler and strong enough to open the refrigerator. I could fill a sippy cup with milk and he could get it when he woke up then crawl back in bed with me; I was good for at least another 30 minutes. Then he was old enough to use the remote and he could turn on the Disney channel and watch cartoons; this gave me almost another hour of sleep. Dylan is now 7 years old. He is fully capable of getting himself something to drink, a cereal bar to tide him over, watch some cartoons, play with Lego’s, or even play the Wii … so I am left wondering, Why must he always wake me up at 7am on a Saturday?

    Does he not realize that we do not have to go to work or school today? Or that I was up past 1 am working on homework or marketing projects for Shel Cosmetics? I only get about 5 hours of sleep during the week, so I treasure my weekends when I have the option to sleep until at least 8 am. Yes, I said option. As I sit here watching Dylan play Donkey Kong on the Wii I am reminded of what I seem to always complain about. Quality time with my son. Having me in the room watching him play, commenting every now and then on his game playing skills, and congratulating him when he beats a level is important to my son. I had 30+ years to sleep in on the weekends and soon it will be me trying to get him up when he is a teenager. So considering the limited amount of time that I have with my son before he is grown up and off to college … I can do without sleep.

    Besides, what other excuse would I have to order my Vanilla Macadamia Nut coffee in bulk direct from Hawaii? Quality time with my son and great Hawaiian coffee, Yes … sleep is definitely overrated!

  • Wii Love Christmas Morning!

    We wait all year long for this day to come and the night before is filled with so much excitement that it is hard to sleep. The anticipation of Santa’s arrival and whether or not he had been good enough all year long was all Dylan could think about. The only thing Dylan asked for this year was for Santa to bring him a Wii. He told me and Grandma that he didn’t want anything from us, just the Wii.

    7am and all smiles!
    Gummy Bears from Dylan’s Candy Shop in NY

    LEGO Hero Factory from Mom …
    And what could this be? It says To Dylan, From Santa
    As much excitement that Dylan had for this moment, my excitement and happiness was 10 times more. Being a parent and seeing your child’s face on Christmas morning as they open “the present” from Santa makes all the temper tantrums, fighting over homework, sleepless nights, and doubting your capabilities as a parent simply disappear. 
     Dylan is so happy that he actually had tears in his eyes

    I asked Dylan why he was hugging me and thanking me. He said, “because I am so happy and I can’t hug Santa” … if he only knew!

    Now I must share a little secret. About a week before Christmas Dylan came walking out of his room crying late at night. He was so upset that he couldn’t even talk. He was convinced that he had not been good enough all year long and that he “did not deserve” to get a Wii from Santa. Once he calmed down a little, he told me Remember when I didn’t listen to you, and when I had to go to the principal’s office, and when I didn’t clean my room … he went on and on. I tried to assure him that those were small things compared to all the good things he had done and that it was up to Santa to decide if he deserved a Wii. He decided to leave Santa a present with his cookies in hopes that he would earn some bonus points. I have never wanted to tell him the story of Santa so badly as I did that night.
    Now you understand why the tears came Christmas morning. ❤

    Yes, the clock on the DVR says 9:28 am  Presents are opened, Mom has her coffee, and Dylan is setting up the Wii

  • Our Christmas Card Photo Shoot

    This year we decided to go with a photo card and who better to take the pictures than our favorite Aunt Stephanie.
    Forget the perfectly posed portrait, we like candid, laughing, this is who we are pictures!
    No Dylan, don’t smile, don’t do funny faces, don’t make bunny ears behind Mommy’s head … yep, threw those rules out the window and had a blast just being us!

    And here is what we got …

     For some reason, I adore this picture. Maybe because the expression on his face that I love so much was finally captured on film.
     He may be 60+ pounds, but he will always be my baby!

    And here is the completed project …